Skinny Love
by HeartofaTiger
Summary: A lot can change in three years- the music you listen to, the clothes you wear, and the people you hang out with. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends. And sometimes the person you least expect becomes the person you need the most...
1. All Together Now

"Don't forget to write!"

"Yes, mum," I said for at least the four hundredth time that morning. I leaned in for a quick hug as I attempted to make my escape onto the train, which would depart any second. You'd think after four years she'd realize that leaving for Hogwarts was in fact not the same as falling off the face of the planet.

"You promise?" my mother asked, giving me the guilt-inducing look that I'm pretty sure all mothers are required to pass a course in before they are allowed to raise children.

"Of course! It'll be like I'm not even gone. You'll be sick of me," I told her with a conciliatory pat on the hand. My eyes nervously flickered to Hogwarts Express. "Speaking of which, I really need to get on the train before it leaves without me. Tell daddy and Petunia I love them and I'll see them at Christmas."

I jumped onto the nearest car without waiting for an answer, and turned to give her a final wave before making my way through the corridor in search of Severus. I was eager to see my other friends as well, but after a disastrous attempt at a joint seating arrangement at the beginning of second year, it had been the unofficial standard that I would spend the first half of the train ride with my childhood friend and the second half with the other girls from Gryffindor.

It didn't take me long to find Severus sitting alone in a nearby compartment. I pulled the compartment door open, causing him to jump and his hand to fly to the pocket of his school robes where I knew he kept his wand before he saw who I was. A look of relief passed over his face before it was replaced with an unusually large grin.

"Lily!" he greeted me and immediately slid over to make room for me next to him. "How was Italy?"

"Molto bello!" I gave my best attempt at an Italian accent, hand motions included "Oh, it was amazing, you should have seen it! Ugh, and the food!"

I slumped back in my seat and let myself revel in the memory of it. My father had been called to Italy on business the last two weeks of Summer holiday and my parents decided to turn it into a family vacation so we could still have "family time" before I came back to school.

"Thank you for picking up all of my school supplies for me, by the way," I glanced at him, and a silver glint off of his robe caught my eye. I grabbed the front of his robes to inspect it more closely. "Severus, why didn't you tell me?" I practically shouted at him. He had the same prefect badge pinned to the front of his robes that I had tucked safely in my trunk. I, however, had immediately sent him a letter when I received my badge with my Hogwarts letter while I was in Rome.

He shrugged, "I guess it slipped my mind."

I refused to dignify his statement with anything but an incredulous look.

"I don't know, I guess I just didn't think it was that important," he shrugged.

"Gee, thanks," I said, throwing him a mostly joking glare. He threw his hands up in surrender. "Anyway," I drawled, "what have you been up to? Besides pining away over the absence of your dearest friend and neighbor, obviously."

"Obviously," he matched my joking tone, but there was a bit of seriousness in his eyes that made me slightly uncomfortable. "Not much, to be honest." He seemed to hesitate before continuing. "I went to Diagon Alley, of course. And I tested what you said about crushing rather than chopping sopophorous beans."

I glanced at him expectantly.

"You were right," he muttered.

"Ah, yes. The three finest words in the English language," I sighed with a self-satisfied grin.

"Don't let it get to your head," he warned, but his smile gave him away.

"Of course not," I exclaimed in mock offense. "Besides, you can't be perfect at Potions all the time. Some of us have to have strokes of brilliance every once in a while."

We spent the rest of the time before the Prefect meeting talking about what I had done in Italy. Now don't get me wrong, I was excited to be going back to Hogwarts, but it had been nice being away from real life for a change. Things had seemed almost normal for Tuney and me. She had even willingly started a conversation with me, which hadn't happened since I was nine. That is, things were better until my prefect badge arrived by owl. I didn't bother telling this to Severus, though. He didn't really understand my relationship with my sister, so it was easier to just not bring her up.

We left for the Prefect compartment just before two in the afternoon, and were the first to arrive. We settled in on opposite sides and sat in silence until our fellow prefects arrived. The others slowly trickled in, and I recognized Amos Diggory from Hufflepuff and Amelia Bones from Ravenclaw, both sitting proudly with their new badges gleaming on their chests. I suddenly wished I had changed into my school robes before coming to the meeting. I briefly glanced at my trunk, which I had brought with me, and considered whether I would have time to change, but I got distracted when I saw the male Gryffindor prefect arrive.

"Remus!" I greeted him happily, a knot untying in my stomach that I hadn't fully realized was there until it was gone. I don't know who else I expected to walk through the door; Remus was really the only reasonable choice among the fifth year Gryffindor boys.

"Hullo, Lily! How was your Summer?" He asked, taking the seat beside me.

"It was great! I definitely needed a break before we start our OWL year. What about you?"

"Er yeah, it was good. I'm ready to be back, though," he said with a grin, undoubtedly thinking of his friends who were doing Merlin knows what somewhere else on the train. Probably turning first years' eyebrows green whenever they walked by, if I had to guess.

I tried, but couldn't quite manage a genuine smile at the thought of that particular group of boys. I shot a concerned glance at Severus, but he was looking pointedly out the window. I vaguely noticed that his fellow prefect, Narcissa Black, had taken the seat beside him.

Everyone had arrived and gotten comfortable when the Head Boy and Girl walked into the crowded compartment. I recognized the Head Boy as a seventh year Gryffindor, Caradoc Dearborn, and he threw Remus and I a quick nod of greeting. I didn't know him particularly well, but what I had heard about him had been positive. I had mixed feelings about our new Head Girl, Charity Burbage. She was a Hufflepuff and well known to be particularly sweet, but she had taken it upon herself to find out who every muggleborn in Hogwarts was and proceeded to question us all about every mundane detail of muggle life. She waved at me with a large grin that I knew meant that we would be having a talk later about the merits and failings of hairdryers. Remus shot me a knowing glance, which I returned with a sheepish grin.

"Congratulations to all of you for being chosen to become prefects!" Charity began in a voice that gave me flashbacks to primary school. "It's a big responsibility, but so rewarding, and I feel personally honored that I get to share this experience with all of you!"

Severus was looking at her with poorly concealed distaste while I attempted to silently communicate to him that he should stop scowling. His lack of enthusiasm didn't inhibit Charity whatsoever, and she focused her attention on people like Amos who were watching her with rapt attention, eagerly nodding at her every word.

"We hope that you'll feel free to discuss absolutely anything with Caradoc and myself, and that doesn't mean just your new duties. It can be schoolwork, personal problems, even your life outside of Hogwarts..." She threw me a significant look as she said those words and it took every ounce of my self-control to not roll my eyes. I could feel Remus shaking in silent laughter beside me and reached over to elbow him as subtly as possible.

"OW!"

"Oh dear, Remus are you all right?" Charity asked, her eyes glistening with concern.

"Er, yeah fine. I just er… stubbed my toe?"

Charity gave him a confused look before continuing, and Remus gave me a quick glare that quickly dissolved into a smile once she looked the other way. After about twenty minutes and at least fourteen times mentioning that being a prefect was a privilege that we should cherish and use to grow as individuals and as a group, Caradoc finally interrupted her.

"Well now that you have all been _thoroughly_ educated on the opportunities for growth in your position, you should know that you will be required to patrol once a week with your house partner. Charity and I will inform you all once a schedule has been made, so if you have a conflict of interest such as Quidditch let us know as soon as possible. If you need anything, feel free to reach out to Charity; she'd be delighted to help you. I think that's about it, so you can all go now! So long!"

His "so long" sounded a whole lot more like a "get out", but we weren't about to miss the opening for escape he had made for us. We all quickly stood up and walked out before Charity would realize what had happened and call us back for icebreakers or some other such rubbish. I noticed Remus give Caradoc a grateful slap on the back as we left.

"Bye Sev, I'll catch up with you later, yeah?" I called out to him. He responded with a brief nod before heading back the way we had come. I turned to walk beside Remus as we went in the opposite direction.

"Do you happen to know where Mary, Dorcas, and Alice are sitting?" I asked Remus.

"Yes, interestingly enough. I'll escort you there," he said with a wink.

"My Remus, how chivalrous of you! Be careful, I might swoon from the exertion!" I threw my hand over my eyes dramatically.

"I don't think I could help you out there," he said, chuckling.

"Some knight in shining armour you are," I scoffed, shaking my head.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find some fine bloke in full body gear who'll sweep you right off your feet."

"Maybe Amos Diggory is single," I joked.

"He'd definitely agree with everything you said."

"I've always considered that a useful character trait in a man…"

A scene just at the end of the corridor suddenly distracted me. I could just make out Dorcas Meadowes, one of my friends from Gryffindor playing an intense game of Exploding Snap in the middle of the hall between two compartments. I was trying to determine whom she was playing with as we got nearer.

"Damn you, Sirius Black! You're going to pay for that!" she yelled. She turned when she heard our footsteps and I saw that her right eyebrow had been entirely singed off. "Lily!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the occupants of both compartments.

Two more girls emerged from the compartment on the right, and they both broke out in grins when they saw me. I practically ran the rest of the way to them, and was enveloped in a huge group hug. We all tried to talk over each other at once.

"Oh Merlin, I've missed-How was your-? Why didn't you- I knew you'd- Were there any- You look- your hair!"

"Okay, okay, okay, one at a time!" I shouted, now unable to contain my excitement to see my three roommates.

"We missed you!" shouted Alice Tripe. She stood on her tiptoes to give me another hug. Not that I'm particularly tall, Alice just happens to be almost absurdly tiny. "Of course, we all knew you'd be chosen as prefect."

"Well yeah, you should have just by process of elimination. I mean-" James Potter started, but stopped when Alice uncharacteristically glared at him. "Well done Evans."

"Merlin, you look amazing! What happened to you?" Dorcas asked, staring at me.

"I wasn't aware that I was such a troll, thanks for clearing that up for me," I told her, rolling my eyes.

"You know what I mean," she said, sticking out her tongue at me. "You're all tan and your hair looks like it's grown about a foot. And not to mention," she lowered her voice, glancing to her right, "your boobs look huge."

I couldn't control the blush that spread up from my neck. So I had gained some weight in Italy, I mean honestly, who doesn't? Even Tuney put some meat on her particularly pointy bones.

"I guess Italy was kind," I said sheepishly.

"Italy?! Why am I only hearing about this now?" asked Mary Macdonald, the only other muggleborn Gryffindor in our year.

"It was kind of a last minute thing," I shrugged.

"You're off in Italy having adventures while I was stuck watching my ten year old brother play Pong on the living room television all Summer," Mary shook her head. "I'm gonna need details."

"Excuse me, I would like details on what happened to your hair!" I pointed at the blonde curls that replaced her straight brown hair.

"I dyed it! You like it, right?" she asked, toying with her hair self-consciously.

"You could wear a traffic cone on your head and you'd still be gorgeous. Unlike me, I gather," I said, sending Dorcas a dirty look.

"Orange does clash with your hair…" She looked at my indignant expression before continuing, "You'll forgive me, you've missed me too much not to," she insisted confidently, leading the way back into our compartment.

"What about our game?!" I heard Sirius Black's voice call out from behind us. I had completely forgotten about the occupants of the other compartment. The self-proclaimed Marauders had all gathered in the hallway to watch us.

Dorcas waved her hand dismissively, "Peter can finish for me."

Sirius seemed to accept this and picked up the game, leading the way back to his compartment.

I turned to close the door behind us, and was surprised to see James Potter still standing in the hallway watching me. He ran his hand through his already messy hair and threw me a smirk before turning and entering his own compartment.

"Well, that was weird…" I muttered to myself.

"What was weird?" Alice asked.

"Er, nothing. It was just… nothing. Nevermind," I stuttered.

"Okay, crazy," Mary muttered, looking at me disbelievingly. "Anyway, did you bring it?"

"'Did I bring it?' she asks, it's as if she doesn't even know me," I scoffed. I pulled my trunk up onto the seat, and opened it, reaching farther than should have been possible. "Undetectable Extending charm," I explained to Mary, whose eyebrows had been steadily rising up her forehead the farther my arm reached.

"And you couldn't have shared that little trick with is at the end of last term?" she questioned me accusingly.

I settled for throwing her an apologetic look as I continued my search.

"Aha! Got it!" I shouted in victory, my hand finally grabbing the object of my search. I pulled it out with a flourish.

"Yay!" Mary clapped.

Dorcas and Alice merely gave us confused looks, unsure why Mary and I were so pleased.

"What is it?" Alice asked?

"It looks like some method of torture," Dorcas eyed it warily.

"It's a record player," I explained enthusiastically. "And it's going to make the Gryffindor common room much more fun this year."

"I don't see how," Dorcas looked at me skeptically.

"What is it supposed to do?" Alice asked.

"Play records. Merlin Alice, do you listen at all?" Mary teased her.

"Muggles use it to play music," I explained to Alice.

"Can't we just play music on the radio?"

"Well, yes, wizard music. But Mary and I are going to expose you to muggle music!"

Mary cackled evilly at Dorcas and Alice's concerned looks.

"Don't worry, you'll thank us later," I smirked.

"We'll see about that…" Dorcas said doubtfully.

"Anyway, you're supposed to be telling us all about Italy, Miss Evans," Alice chastised.

"Meet any fit Italian blokes?" Mary questioned me. "I bet you did, and he fed you spaghetti while you floated through the canals of Florence in a gondola while acoustic guitars gently strummed in the distance…" She looked off in the distance dreamily.

"Well it wasn't _precisely_ like that," I began. "It was actually linguini…"

"I bet it was," Dorcas laughed and threw a chocolate frog at me as we settled in for the ride back to Hogwarts.


	2. Hold Me Tight

When the Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmeade station, we had all already changed into our school robes. The girls had all appropriately oohed and awed over my new badge. I was practically bouncing in my seat as the train pulled to a stop. I hadn't even realized that I was actually excited to be back at school.

"So what do you think it's going to be this year? Stealing the Sorting hat?" Dorcas suggested as we filed off of the train. The Marauders had already rushed off, which could only mean that we were to expect some form of mischief.

"I bet you five galleons they'll do something to the Slytherins," Alice said.

"Whoa there, Alice, let's not be too hasty," Mary joked. Three of the Marauders last four Welcome Back feasts had involved some sort of prank on Slytherin House. Last year, they somehow managed to use a sticking charm on every single Slytherin so none of them could stand up to leave the Great Hall. At least four first years had started crying because they needed to use the bathroom and didn't know how to unstick themselves.

We climbed into one of the horseless carriages and huddled together against the cold. It was unusually chilly and drizzly for September. By the time we made it into the Great Hall, I was starving and more than ready to get the sorting over with.

We sat in our usual spot, at the end closest to the professors, of the long table that belonged to Gryffindor House. My eyes were immediately drawn to the Slytherin table, but I couldn't find Severus. There were a few other Slytherins missing as well, so I shrugged off his absence as much as I could. It wasn't too hard because my attention was immediately absorbed by James Potter throwing himself down into the spot beside me, while the other Marauders filed in around him. Mary, Alice, Dorcas, and I all gave each other the same questioning look.

"Er, excuse me?" Mary asked.

"You're excused," Potter said, barely glancing her way.

At this point, I had become somewhat indignant not only with his new choice of seating but also with his rude behavior.

"Not to be rude or anything, but why are you here?" I asked, confusion clearly written all over my face.

He turned to me and a look came over his face like the one a preschool teacher gets when they have to explain sharing to a three year old. "You see, Evans, I go to school here. I got this letter when I was eleven-"

"I mean," I interrupted, "why are you _here_?" I gestured vigorously at where he was sitting.

"We thought we'd try out a new seating arrangement," he shrugged. "Better view," he added as an afterthought.

I knew to be suspicious when all four of them got the same knowing grin on their faces.

"I don't think I even want to know…" I muttered to myself. I turned to Remus and spoke louder, "Do you know where we're supposed to meet McGonagall to get the-"

Before I could finish, Sirius looked at me pointedly with his finger to his lips, shushing me. I was about to tell him where he could put that finger, but at that moment the doors to the Great Hall opened, and Professor McGonagall led the line of first years in between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables.

I just barely saw James wink at Sirius in my peripheral vision and Sirius mutter something under his breath, when a first year boy farthest in the back tripped, taking the girl in front of him with him. Suddenly, like dominoes, all of the first years went down. Professor McGonagall had already made it to the front of the hall and turned to see the pile of eleven year olds lying 30 feet behind her.

I couldn't help but laugh at the shocked look on McGonagall's face, and apparently neither could anyone else. The hall erupted into chaos as the older student roared in laughter at the fumbling first years, and it took a good ten minutes to sort everyone out again. There were relatively few injuries, so the sorting went on as planned.

"That could have been worse," I mumbled to Alice, who was sitting on my other side. "And they got it out of the way early, thank Merlin."

"I agree," she nodded. "Much more tame than I was expecting."

She reluctantly looked at Dorcas who was holding out her hand expectantly. Alice frowned, and handed over two galleons and a few sickles and knuts.

"It's all I have on me," she shrugged.

When the first boy to be sorted made his way to the Slytherin table, I noticed that Severus had made it after all. I was about to smile at him when I noticed that he was also sitting with Avery and Mulciber. I frowned, remembering how they had called me a mudblood in second year during potions.

"Since when is he friends with them?"

"What was that, Lily?" Alice asked, turning to me.

"What? Oh nothing." I hadn't realized I had said it out loud.

I turned my attention back to the sorting and refused to turn my gaze from the front of the hall. Once the last girl had made her way to the Ravenclaw table, Dumbledore stood up to remind everyone of the rules before instructing us to "tuck in!"

Hundreds of delicious foods appeared on the tables, and we all filled our plates hungrily. Dorcas was moving faster than all of us, and was already taking a bite of her shepherd's pie when we heard a loud, "OW!"

"Are you okay?" Mary asked, glancing at the pie suspiciously.

"That wasn't me!" Dorcas shouted, looking at her food fearfully.

The hall had erupted into loud exclamations of "Ow!" and "Put me down!"

"It's the food!" Alice explained, experimentally biting her chicken, which immediately threw a rather foul-mouthed insult at her.

"Ugh, I think I just became a vegetarian," Dorcas moaned, looking at her plate in disgust.

Beside me, the Marauders were howling with laughter.

Starving, but not wanting to be insulted by my own food, I cast a quick _muffliato_ spell over my plate and hoped for the best. Mary and Alice followed my lead, while Dorcas continued to sit with a scowl on her face.

"Thank Merlin, it works," Mary grumbled, her mouth full of food.

I smirked at the boys beside me before standing up to help the other prefects fix the food for the younger students. By the time we had finished, the main dishes were being taken away and replaced by dessert.

"Please tell me you arseholes didn't do anything to these," Dorcas pleaded with Peter, who was sitting beside her.

Before he could answer, McGonagall appeared behind him. "Potter! Black! Lupin! Pettigrew!" Peter seemed to shrink in his seat, while Remus seemed appropriately abashed, and Potter and Black sat with self-satisfied smirks on their faces. "I know that it was you four, even if we can't prove it. I had hoped that these juvenile pranks would end, particularly with your prefecthood Mr. Lupin, and I expect better from you all for the rest of the year."

"I mean, we can try and improve our execution, but I did think this one was pretty clever," Potter said with a grin, not affected in the slightest by McGonagall's glare.

"Perhaps you can come up with something better in detention tomorrow evening, Mr. Potter?"

"Sounds like a date," he replied, not phased in the slightest.

McGonagall turned around and returned to the teachers' table, clearly disappointed in her chastisement's lack of effectiveness.

"Detention in the forty five minutes of the new school year," Sirius regarded his watch with pride in his eyes. "I think that may be a new record for us."

"Well done," I scoffed at him. "Be sure to put that on your job applications."

"Maybe I will," he shot back.

"Great, I'm sure Azkaban has plenty of openings for you," Mary retorted.

"People don't go to Azkaban for making other people's food talk, Macdonald," Potter pointed out arrogantly. "And besides, Evans, your problem is that you lack imagination."

"No, my problem is that I lack the time and energy that you spend figuring out how to make other people's lives harder," I snapped.

"Time that could be spent studying, you mean?" He smirked at me in that infuriating way, and ran his hand through his hair for what must have been the tenth time since we sat down. "We don't make people's lives harder," he looked at the skeptical glance I was giving him, "necessarily. We bring joy to the masses! You can't tell me that you didn't find anything funny, I saw you laughing."

He had me there, so I merely glared at him before grabbing a treacle tart and turning away from the Marauders. I could practically feel the satisfaction rolling off of him in waves because he thought he had won. I decided I would show him, and pointedly ignored him for the rest of the meal.

Dorcas and Alice were in the middle of arguing about whether Alice hadn't technically lost the bet since the prank had affected the Slytherins, when Dumbledore stood up to announce that it was time for the students to return to our dormitories. I was shooting a panicked glance at Remus when I noticed Professor McGonagall walking towards us.

"Mr. Lupin, Ms. Evans, the password to the common room is 'blunderbuss.' Ms. McKinnon and Mr. Longbottom will lead the first years to the dormitory, you need only follow and make sure no one wanders off, you understand?" We nodded and she gave us a curt, "Very well" before bustling off with Frank and Marlene in tow.

Remus and I stood up. "I'll see you all in the common room," I told the girls, who nodded.

"Can't wait," Potter replied with a smug grin.

Remus and I both shook our heads, though he followed his with a friendly pat on the back and a mumbled "subtle" before we made our way out of the Great Hall, following the calls of "first years this way!"

"So what was that about?" I asked Remus as we trailed slightly behind the group of Gryffindor first years.

"What was what about?" he asked, only slightly too innocently.

"Potter's sudden desire for new real estate," I gestured back to the Great Hall. It was common knowledge that the Marauders sat as far as possible from any form of authority.

He shrugged, "I guess he just wanted to try something new."

"Or get a closer look at McGonagall's face?" I suggested, somewhat accusingly.

"Something like that," he muttered vaguely.

We walked the rest of the way up to the seventh floor in silence. As soon as we made it into the Common Room, I ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, and entered the room I had shared with Mary, Alice, and Dorcas for four years. I pulled open the lid of my trunk and pulled out the record player my parents had given me for my birthday in January and struggled to carry it downstairs.

I was in the corner looking through records when the other fifth years finally entered the common room.

"Not this again," Dorcas groaned.

"What in the name of Merlin's saggy left ballsack is that?" Sirius asked, poking at it suspiciously.

"Charming," I said, slapping his finger away. "It's a muggle record player and you're all about to thank me for so graciously educating your taste in music." I turned to Mary, holding out the records to her. "You can do the honors."

Mary took them from me with a smile, shuffled through them for a minute, and then confidently handed me one from the middle of the stack. I smiled at her choice before setting it up on the record player.

"I'm nervous," Alice muttered, as the music started. "Why am I nervous?"

Mary grabbed me, swinging me around as the song played. "'Hold me tight,'" she sang at the top of her lungs. "'Tell me I'm the only one.'"

"Probably because your friend is completely bonkers," Sirius informed her, trying to stay out of Mary's path as she danced her way towards them.

She was gesturing dramatically at all of us, making Dorcas and Alice laugh. Unable to help it, I joined her. We both sang loudly and out of key, and started to dance. I grabbed Dorcas while she grabbed Alice, fully aware that we were making absolute prats of ourselves in front of the entire common room.

"'It's yooouuuuu,'" I crooned to an unsuspecting third year, grabbing him and spinning him around. "'You you you!'"

Pretty soon most people common room were getting into it, and Mary and I shot each other smug looks of satisfaction at being proven right. Those who weren't dancing around like idiots were watching those of us who were with amusement.

"Wow, Evans," Potter appeared behind me, his face close to my ear. I had almost forgotten he was even there. "Has anyone ever told you you're a _terrible_ singer?"

I shrugged and tossed my hair dramatically. "What can I say? It comes naturally." I made my escape when I spotted a frightened looking first year. I took him by the hand and danced with him until I saw him smile.

When the song ended, we all collapsed in exhaustion. "And you all thought you'd hate muggle music," I shook my head in disappointment at the other fifth years.

"Okay, maybe some of it is acceptable," Dorcas conceded.

"Dorcas, my love, we've barely even scratched the surface. Prepare yourself."

Despite her groan, I had a feeling that from that point on, we'd be hearing a lot more of the Beatles in the Gryffindor Common Room.


	3. A Day in the Life

McGonagall had just passed out our schedules at breakfast when I found out that Potter's little change in location was more permanent than we first anticipated.

"Morning, Evans," he said brightly, plopping down beside me.

"Oh, you're here again," I grunted.

"Looks like someone's not a morning person, eh Evans?" he elbowed me, earning himself a steely glare.

"You should try waking her up," Alice added, ignoring the evil look I was giving her. "I still have the marks from where she scratched me when I woke her up for a quidditch match in third year."

I stuck my tongue out at her before turning my attention to the Slytherin table. Apparently, Potter's new seating arrangement wasn't the only permanent one. Severus was still sitting snugly between Avery and Mulciber. I huffed and chose to focus my attention on eating rather than trying to decipher the inner workings of the minds of Hogwarts' male population.

I had just taken a bite of toast when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Caradoc was standing behind me, holding a few pieces of parchment. He handed me one, "Lily, here's your patrol schedule. You and Remus will patrol the 6th and 7th floor corridors from eight to ten on Monday and Thursday nights."

"Sounds good," I nodded.

He leaned across the table to hand a copy to Remus.

"Try and stay out of trouble, yeah?" he could only have been talking to Remus, but he turned to wink at me before taking a seat next to Frank Longbottom, who was sitting on Alice's other side. Mary raised her eyebrows at me suggestively and I couldn't help the blush that spread across my face.

"What was that about?" Dorcas asked, looking between the Head Boy and me.

"How should I know?" I shrugged and mumbled something about boys being weird.

"Watch this," Potter whispered to Sirius. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the jug of pumpkin juice that was sitting on the table in front of Caradoc. He muttered something under his breath, and the jug toppled over directly onto Caradoc's lap.

"Bloody-" he jumped up in surprise, his pants soaked.

"Have a little accident there, mate?" James called, not even bothering to conceal his laughter. "If you needed direction to the loo, you could have just asked."

There were scattered chuckles along the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables before Caradoc turned his attention on Potter. "You'll have to show me where they are on your way to detention tomorrow night."

"Merlin, mate" Sirius muttered. "Give me a chance to catch up." Then he raised his voice, "Need a new pair of knickers, Dearborn? I can owl your mummy for you!"

"You too, Black!" Caradoc pointed at him angrily before magically drying the front of his pants, though they still looked vaguely orange where they had been grey before.

Potter and Black gave each other a high five before turning their attention back on their breakfasts with satisfied grins.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I turned on Potter.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific," Peter piped in, though I couldn't be entirely sure whether he was joking or serious.

Potter kicked him under the table before turning to me. "What do you have your knickers all in a twist about, Evans? Upset that I embarrassed your boyfriend?" he asked condescendingly.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend, that's about the first time he's ever spoken to me directly." I paused, unsure why I felt the need to justify myself to him. "But that's beside the point, he didn't do anything to you!"

"He was bothering me," he shrugged casually, though he seemed to trying to conceal a grin.

"He wasn't even talking to you!"

"No, he was talking to you," Sirius muttered, snickering. Potter elbowed him in the gut while Remus snorted into his juice.

"What was that?" I asked him dangerously.

"Nothing, Evans dear. Go back to your toast in peace, you've taught us our lesson." He gave me a falsely conciliatory pat on the hand before mumbling to Potter under his breath, "She really isn't a morning person."

"Black!"

"Look, Evans," Potter eyed me wearily. "We Marauders have a reputation of undermining authority to uphold. What kind of troublemakers would we be if we let opportunities like that," he pointed to the Caradoc's retreating form, probably going to change his pants before classes, "slide out from underneath us?"

"Ones underserving of the name of a Marauder," Sirius answered unnecessarily.

"So should Remus and I be waiting for beverages to land on our laps?" I questioned, eyeing them accusingly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Evans, you and Remus are special cases," Potter waved my question away like a bothersome gnat.

"How so?" Mary asked him, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Remus here was just taking one for the team when he was forced into his unfortunate state as prefect," Sirius explained. "Thanks for that, mate," he added, turning to Remus.

"Right," Remus nodded, a sardonic smile on his face.

"We can't punish him for something so utterly out of his own control and against his own wishes," Sirius finished with a nod.

"And you, Prefect Evans, are a girl," Potter explained, as if this was new information.

"You don't say," my voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Despite what you may think, we do have standards," he took a sip of his juice with a superior look on his face. "You needn't fear any nefarious breakfast food incidents."

"Yeah, right."

"Marauders' honor," he told me with his hand over his heart.

"That's an oxymoron."

"I love when you talk literary to me," he winked.

"Alright, well if you two are done flirting, I'd like to actually get to class on time," Dorcas stood up, but continued eyeing us suspiciously.

Against my will, I blushed. "We weren't flirting," I told her, standing up and grabbing my bag.

"Sure you weren't," her tone and expression were both disbelieving.

"We weren't!" I wasn't sure why I felt the need to argue so vehemently against the idea, but my mouth seemed to be functioning independently of my brain.

"Okay, you weren't flirting!" she finally gave in as we all trudged our way down to the dungeons for potions with the Slytherins. Or at least I trudged.

"Thank you," I told her primly, as we entered the classroom.

My brain was on autopilot as I made my way toward the front of the classroom where I normally shared a table with Severus. I froze when I saw that Avery had already taken my spot.

I tried to squash down the slightly betrayed feeling that had settled in the pit of my stomach. _It's just a seat,_ the reasonable part of my brain argued. _My seat_ , the petty part argued back. I was shaken from my thoughts when Alice bumped into me from behind.

"Oh, Lily I'm sorry!" Alice apologized. "I didn't expect you to stop…are you okay?" she asked, noticing the expression of my face.

I quickly rearranged my features into a smile, "Yeah, sorry! I was just thinking…" I made my way to the nearest table, where Alice was already setting her things down, and set my bag on the floor.

"Don't you normally sit with…" she trailed off, her eyes shifting to the front of the room where Sev was sitting. "Oh."

"What's the matter, Evans?" Potter asked from the table behind us. "Trouble in paradise with our dear friend Snivellus?"

"Shut it, Potter," Alice turned around and gave him a rude hand gesture. She turned back to me with a sympathetic look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," I shrugged.

Thankfully, Professor Slughorn chose that moment to make an appearance.

"Now then," he said, rubbing his hand together as he stood at the front of the classroom. "I thought we would begin today by seeing what you remember from last year. You will each brew me a Dreamless Sleep Draught. Whoever brews the best quality draught will receive twenty house points. Off you go!"

Slughorn stood at the front of the classroom as we all began lighting fires under our cauldrons and gathering ingredients from the cabinet at the front of the room. Peter was flipping furiously through his textbook trying to find directions.

"Merlin, Wormtail, you just learned to brew this in May!" I heard Sirius exclaim from behind me. Beside him, Potter snickered as he began to chop up the knotgrass in front of him. Remus pointed his wand at the book, which immediately fell open to the correct page. Peter shot him a grateful look before rushing to catch up with the rest of us.

With all of my ingredients added and nothing to do but wait, my mind wandered back to the table at the front of the classroom where Severus was whispering instructions into Avery's ear. I could remember way Avery had whispered the word "mudblood" in my ear three years ago as if it were three days ago. I had been sitting in the same seat he currently occupied. I didn't have to know what it meant to know that it was an insult.

Severus had refused to tell me what it meant, so I had asked Alice at dinner.

"It's a really awful name to call someone. Only people who think they're better because they have two magic parents use it," she explained to me.

"Well, you have two magic parents," I argued.

"Oh, Lily, I would never say that to you. That blood nonsense is all a bunch of rubbish."

I shook myself back into the present, remembering I still had to stir my potion. Slughorn walked in front of our table, glancing into our cauldrons.

"Excellent, Ms. Evans," he nodded in approval. "I see your skills are just as sharp as ever!"

I smiled, not sure how to respond to that.

He continued, lowering his voice, "Ms. Evans, there will be a gathering in my office Friday evening, just a small group of students, and I should like it very much if you came."

"Er, well, thank you for the invitation, sir-"

"Lovely, we'll see you there at six!" He walked off before I had the chance to make up an excuse.

 _Oh well_ , I mentally shrugged. _He is a nice old man, if just a little too familiar_.

"Look at you, Ms. Evans, getting an invitation to the Slug Club," Alice teased.

"I don't know, I think I might be sick on Friday… Do I look a bit peaky to you?" I put her hand on my forehead and coughed dramatically.

She laughed, "I think you should go! I know for a fact that Caradoc will be there," she said in a lilting voice, giving me a knowing look.

"Why should that matter?" I asked in the most unaffected manner I could manage. "Besides, how would you even know that?"

"He's head boy, Slughorn couldn't rightly not invite him," she explained, giving me a triumphant look. "And Frank Longbottom told me," she added as an afterthought.

"Oh, Frank Longbottom?" I teased her.

"He helped me with herbology last year," she shrugged. "He's got an uncle on the Wizengamot or something like that, so he's been getting invitations since fourth year."

"Oh, well then clearly I have to go," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just saying, it couldn't hurt."

Slughorn cleared his throat to get the attention of the class. "After observing all of your potions, I have decided to award twenty well-deserved points to Gryffindor! Well done, Ms. Evans!" He clapped, but stopped quickly when no one else joined him. No one except Potter and Black, that is.

"Yeah, Evans!" Potter exclaimed.

"What _would_ Gryffindor do without you, Prefect Evans?" Sirius asked in mock sincerity.

"Probably lose the house cup every year, if you two gits had anything to say about it," Dorcas defended me, as we all stood to clear off our tables and gather our things.

"Don't worry about it Dorcas," I said, though my eyes focused in on the two boys sitting behind me. "They're just upset because they can't always be the best at everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Potter denied, crossing his arms.

"Sure you don't," I agreed sardonically. "So it wouldn't bother you, if say, Dorcas scored more goals than you in the next quidditch match."

"Not one bit," he smirked, though I could see his eye twitching just a little. "Although that would never happen," he couldn't help adding.

"I guess we'll just have to see then…" I shrugged, and walked toward the door of the classroom to catch up with Dorcas. "Please score more than him in the next quidditch match," I muttered, crossing my fingers that Potter couldn't hear me.

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," she chuckled as we made our way up the stairs to the third floor.

"Lily!" I heard someone call my name from just behind me as we neared the door to the Charms classroom.

"Severus? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be in Defense?" I looked toward the opposite end of the hall where the rest of the Slytherins had already disappeared from my sight.

"Er, yeah… I just wanted to, er, congratulate you-"

"What are you doing here, Snivellus?" Sirius appeared beside me glaring.

"None of your business, Black," he sneered, which only served to get Potter involved too.

"Shouldn't you be off torturing kittens, or whatever it is you people do in the dungeons?" Potter taunted him, looking at him with obvious distaste.

"Could you two please go?" I asked, not in the mood for a confrontation.

"Sure, Evans," Potter agreed. I was almost impressed at his uncharacteristic compliance before he added, "Careful not to let him touch you, though. You'll never get the grease stains out."

I grabbed Severus's hand before he could raise his wand, giving him a stern look. "Please, not now," I pleaded with him.

"C'mon," Remus grabbed Potter and Black by the shoulders, "You'll have plenty of opportunities to hex each other later." He pulled them both towards the classroom, throwing me a sympathetic smile.

"Was that all you wanted?" I asked him.

"Er, no… not really. I wanted to check- to see if you were… er, well, mad at me?" He struggled to get the question out.

"Why would I be mad at you?" I asked, knowing I was just being passive aggressive.

"I- er, no-no reason, really. Just checking…"

"Okay, well I'm not." There was an awkward silence, and I looked around for a way out. "I should really get to class… I'll see you later?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah! Yeah, definitely," he told me, seeming in a much better mood than before. He gave me a short awkward wave that I nodded to before turning and walking the opposite direction.

"What did he want?" Mary asked, as I took a seat beside her.

"I don't really know," I answered honestly.

"He's a weird bloke," she said, shaking her head.

I gave a noncommittal grunt, which she seemed to accept as a good enough answer.

* * *

"I should get going, it's almost 7:50," I glanced at my watch. I started to gather up the textbooks and pieces of parchment that had spread out across the dormitory floor.

"I can't believe we already have this much work and it's only the first day," Mary groaned, dropping the Transfiguration essay she had been working on, and stretching her back.

"O.W.L year," I told her with false brightness.

"Don't say that word," Alice moaned. "I swear, I get hives just thinking about it."

"Remind me not to sit near you during the actual exams," Dorcas said with a disgusted look.

"The seating is done alphabetically," Mary told her. "So you'll be beside yours truly and I'll be cozying up next to Remus Lupin," she winked.

"Lily?" Alice asked me quietly, walking over to my bed, where I was setting my things.

"Yes?"

"So are you always going to be sitting with me in potions from now on?" she asked.

"I don't really know… Why?" I asked warily.

"No reason," she answered a little too quickly.

"I really have to go, but we'll talk about this later," I told her, hurrying down out of our dormitory and down the stairs to the common room to find Remus. He and his friends were in a corner by themselves, whispering with their heads drawn close together. _Probably plotting something_ , I thought.

They were absorbed by their discussion and didn't notice me approaching.

"I just don't think it's a good idea," Remus whispered fiercely. I was slightly taken aback at his tone. He was usually so mild.

"A little too late for that now, Moony," Sirius told him, rolling his eyes. "We've been planning this for years, and now we can finally follow through and you want us to back out."

"Look, it isn't safe for you three to-"

"Evans!" Potter finally noticed my presence and interrupted Remus before he could finish whatever it was he was about to say.

"What are you four up to?" I asked them, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"Nothing concerning you, Prefect Evans," Black told me with obnoxious superiority. "Now you and Moony go catch all the bad students snogging in broom cupboards."

"I guess we'll be seeing you soon, then?" I asked with a sardonic smile.

"You two could only hope," he told me with a wink.

"Thanks, mate," Remus told him with a long-suffering smile. "Ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah, let's go," I told him, throwing one last mistrustful look at his friends before following him out of the common room.

* * *

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	4. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

"Quidditch tryouts tonight!" Potter announced as he took his seat beside me in the Great Hall.

"Thanks for the update," I told him, not bothering to look up from my plate.

"You know, some people like watching quidditch and enjoy keeping up with their house team," he chastised me.

"C'mon Evans," Sirius was quick to jump in. "You should be supporting him as he takes his first official step as quidditch Captain."

"I like watching quidditch," I defended myself quietly. "Why, is this an invitation to go watch people make fools of themselves on broomsticks trying to impress you?" I looked at Potter with my eyebrows raised.

"Why not?" Potter asked, looking utterly put out with me. "I like putting a little extra pressure on the contenders, see how they play with an audience. Not to mention, you'd get to watch everyone's two-" Dorcas coughed, "fine Meadowes, _three_ favorite Gryffindors play the world's finest sport." He spoke like a car salesman. "Peter and Moony will be there," he added, trying to sweeten the deal.

"I'd like to go," Mary shrugged. Alice nodded eagerly in agreement.

"As much as I'd love to," I said, rolling my eyes, "I really need to go to the library."

"Merlin, Evans, it's only the first week of classes," Sirius said, with a look of disgust on his face.

"Tell that to the professors! No really, please do. Someone ought to tell them and it won't be me."

"Normally, I would, but I'm trying to stay on McGonagall's good side," he shrugged.

"Since when?" Dorcas demanded, looking at him in disbelief.

"Sometimes, you have to choose your battles, Meadowes," was his vague answer. I couldn't shake the feeling that his sudden desire to lay low had something to do with what I overheard the four of them planning.

"Why do they call you Moony?" Alice asked Remus, looking confused.

Remus seemed to flounder for a moment before Potter came to his rescue. "Long story," he shrugged, adjusting his glasses. "Long, embarrassing story that I'm sure Remus wouldn't care to share with the likes of you lot."

"What, did he drop trou in the middle of Diagon Alley?" Dorcas asked, laughing to herself. Remus's face turned bright scarlet. "NO! Did you really?!" Dorcas looked both shocked and impressed.

"He is a marauder, isn't he?" Potter smirked, thumping Remus on the back. Dorcas's face was all amazement, while Mary appeared utterly taken aback at this turn of events. Alice was almost, but not quite, as red as Remus.

"Well, as lovely as I'm sure Remus's bottom is, I think that's my cue to leave," I told them, stuffing the last bit of biscuit in my mouth and swinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Mary asked, looking oddly concerned.

"Of course," I nodded. "You can all give me a play by play later," I said with a grin.

I scanned the tables in the library quickly, most of which were thankfully empty, and settled in my favorite spot in the corner. Most people avoided the area since it was near the restricted section, so there were less distractions. It was just far enough away from Madame Pince that one could have a conversation at an almost reasonable volume without being constantly shushed and far enough away from the door to not be bothered by people coming in and out.

I had made pretty good progress on my transfiguration essay, when I heard someone take a seat at my table. I turned toward the intruder, preparing to shoo them away.

"Sev? What are you doing here?" I asked, not really sure why I was surprised to find him in a library. Now Sirius Black, I would be surprised to see in a library.

"Studying," he shrugged.

"Oh." I decided not to argue with him although it was obvious that he hadn't brought any books with him.

"How are your classes going?" he asked.

"Fine." I couldn't quite explain why I was angry with him, but I wanted him to know that I was keeping him at a distance.

"I hope-" he paused, seeming to think about his words. "You don't mind me sitting with Avery, do you?"

I didn't know how to answer. Was I angry? I certainly wasn't happy. Was I about to tell him that I was angry? Unlikely. "I'm just… surprised, I guess, is the right word. Are you friends with him?" I cringed at the hurt tone in my own voice.

"It's… complicated."

"It's not a hard question." The statement didn't sound nearly as lighthearted as I had intended it to.

"Would it be bad if I was?" He gripped the table, a frustrated look on his face. "He needed help with potions. More help than you'd need, that's for certain," he gave me a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"He needs help with potions at mealtimes too?" I could've slapped myself for letting the words slip out.

"Does Potter?" his voice was harder than I could ever remember it being with me. I suddenly felt a wave of shame wash over me. Was I being selfish, making him feel bad for making friends in his own house while I buddied up with the people who made his life miserable? Then I remembered the look on Avery's face when he called me a mudblood, and the shame was replaced with an oddly numb feeling.

"Let's just not talk about this," I decided.

"Okay," he agreed, obviously desperate to change the subject. "So you got an invitation to the Slug Club?" he smirked at me.

"Ugh, don't remind me," I groaned, laughing.

* * *

As I approached the table at breakfast the next morning, Potter was somehow still talking about quidditch.

"I just hope that Fry was the right choice," he muttered to Sirius who was being unusually thoughtful, taking me by surprise.

"He was the only choice, mate. Yes, he's small, but he had the best aim of anyone else on the pitch."

"I take it quidditch auditions went well?" I asked, taking my seat and grabbing a croissant.

"Auditions?" Potter looked at me, aghast. " _Auditions_? Merlin, Evans, it isn't a bloody theater production."

"Okay, okay," I raised my hands in defeat when I saw that everyone else had the same scandalized expression on their faces. "I apologize. _Tryouts_ went well then?"

Once he had settled down, he grunted, tearing off a piece of toast with his teeth. I looked at Remus for a translation.

"He's doubting his decision because none of the beaters stood out as being as astoundingly talented on the quidditch pitch as he is and-" he was interrupted by a piece of toast flying at his face. "Well that was uncalled for."

Potter smirked, "Your words, though not untrue, contained a level of sarcasm that I did not approve of."

"It appears you were lying about me not needing to worry about being attacked by breakfast foods," Remus chuckled, wiping the butter off of his face with a napkin.

* * *

I took my seat next to Alice in Potions on Friday, and saw her face fall in a small frown before she covered it with a smile.

"How was patrol last night?" she asked me, her voice deliberately casual.

"Fine," I shrugged. "Not much really happens."

"What do you and Remus talk about?" she asked, her eyes shifting quickly to the boy in question and then back to me.

"School, mostly," I took a moment to think. "He doesn't really talk about his personal life now that I come to think of it."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. She pretended to organize her things for a moment and then cleared her thoat, and looked at me again. "So he doesn't talk about girls or anything?"

"Like wh- ohhh…" I paused, realizing how daft I'd been. Alice was upset that I'd taken the seat beside her because that's where Remus normally sat. No wonder she had gone to quidditch tryouts when she had less interest in the sport than any of us.

"You fancy-!" She shoved her hand over my mouth before I shouted his name. My eyes widened, realizing I had almost shouted that she fancied Remus in front of two of his best mates. "You fancy Remus!" I whispered excitedly into her ear. She nodded, embarrassed.

My mind was going in too many directions at once and I couldn't settle on what to ask. "Wha-When?" Alice held her finger up to her mouth instead of answering, pointing to Slughorn at the front of the class.

I waited until everyone had become occupied with our assigned potion before airing the subject again. "When did this happen?" I asked, my voice thankfully covered by the sound of knives chopping and glass containers clinking around us.

"Around last spring, I suppose. He's just always so nice, and it just kind of… started," she shook her head, blushing.

"Have you made any moves? Has he made any moves?" I was far too excited about this. "Has their been movement?" I laughed.

"I mean, not _explicitly_ ," she kept her eyes on her potion. "I just have a _feeling_. I can't really explain it."

"Well, now you've got your own personal Remus spy," I grinned, stirring the potion that I had been severely neglecting. "That boy isn't going to know what hit him," I grinned. "By the end of this year, you're going to have yourself a bloke."

* * *

"What am I supposed to wear to one of these?" I groaned in frustration. I had been staring at my wardrobe for at least a quarter of an hour.

"You could show up in your skivvies, I doubt Slughorn would mind," Mary deadpanned, not looking up from her copy of _Witch Weekly_. I threw the shoe I had been holding at her. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "I'm only telling the truth!"

"Forget it, I'm just going to go like this," I decided, frowning at the reflection of my school uniform in the mirror. "But should I do something with my hair?" I asked, pulling the long red waves up and away from my face.

"Merlin, Lily, it isn't a bloody date. Just go as you are, they're lucky that you decided show up at all," Dorcas chided me as she sat on the floor waxing her new broomstick.

"Leave her alone, Dorcas, she's just worried because _Caradoc_ is going to be there," Alice teased me, looking up from the book she had been trying to summon for the past twenty minutes.

"Head boy with the nice buns?" Dorcas asked, suddenly interested.

"The very same," Alice affirmed.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone, I just don't want to look like a total fuckwit if I show up wearing the wrong thing," I explained, braiding and unbraiding my hair. I had mental vision of showing up in muggle clothes and everyone laughing at how stupid the mudblood was. I shuddered, and pushed the thought from my mind.

"Leave your hair down," Mary instructed decidedly. "Men always like a woman's hair down better."

"Bollocks," Dorcas countered.

"It's true! Look, it's right here on page sixty three!" She shouted, shoving the magazine in Dorcas's face and pointing to a spot on the page. "'It reminds them of the magic of natural female beauty and sensuality.'"

"Everything in those magazines is rubbish! I bet next week they'll be telling you that men always prefer a woman's hair up because 'it reminds them of the enchantment of feminine class and sophistication.' It's all just a bunch of bollocks meant to sell you grooming potions!"

"You're just being touchy because you don't like your hair," Mary stuck out her tongue, and Dorcas threw a book that had been lying on the ground at her. Mary ducked behind her bed and threw a hairbrush at Dorcas.

"Thank you all for the help," I rolled my eyes. "I'm leaving now before one of you gives me a black eye."

"Tell Caradoc hello for us," Alice winked.

"Absolutely not," I told her, slipping on my shoe.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Mary shouted from behind her bed.

"That leaves you quite a bit of wiggle room," Dorcas reasoned before a pillow came flying at her head from behind Mary's bed.

"Bunch of absolute nutters," I muttered to myself on the way out the door.

I heard a chorus of "We heard that!"

"Bye!" I shouted, slamming the door shut behind me before breathing a sigh of relief.

It was a few minutes before six when I arrived at Slughorn's office. I knocked, hoping to Merlin that I wouldn't be the first one there.

"Lily m'girl!" Slughorn greeted me enthusiastically. "Come in, come in, take a seat anywhere." He gestured grandly behind him where, thankfully, a few students had already scattered. There was a couch and a number of chairs set around the room in a circle. I spotted Frank Longbottom and sighed in relief, making my way over to where he was sitting on the couch.

"Mind if I take this spot?" I asked him.

"Oh, you know I was really saving it," he joked, his voice filled with false regret.

"That's too bad because there's no way I'm sitting with them," I nodded toward a small cluster of Slytherins on the other side of the room. I recognized Narcissa Black and Cyneburga Nott, whispering to one another with just a hint of a sneer on both of their smooth, cold faces.

"I suppose if you must then," he sighed dramatically, though his smile gave him away, and gestured to the seat beside him. "First time at the Slug Club, eh?" he asked, grinning.

"Is it really that obvious?" I asked, self-consciously touching my hair.

"Only to the well-trained eye," he winked, making me laugh.

"Alice told me you'd be here," I said, not sure why I felt the need to share this information.

"She did?" he asked, titling his head to the side, a small smile forming on his face.

"Yeah, she said you'd been coming since fourth year."

"I'm surprised she remembered…" he trailed off thoughtfully before shaking his head. "But yes, I have, thanks to old Uncle Alfie," he sighed.

"Should I be scared?" I asked, only partially joking.

"No, no! All that's really going to happen is-" he was interrupted by the entrance of Caradoc Dearborn. He scanned the room quickly and, to my surprise, made his way over to where Frank and I were sitting and took the seat on my other side. "Frank," he nodded to the sixth year prefect. "And how are you, Lily?" he asked, looking at me expectantly.

I was slightly taken aback by his direct address, and had to take a minute to gather my thoughts. He looked at me amusedly until I found my voice. "Well, it's only the first week and I'm already considering dropping out and becoming a barmaid at the Leaky Cauldron," I grinned at him.

"Don't tell that to Slughorn," he cautioned me, though I could see a small grin forming.

"Why not?" I asked, confused as to why that would matter. Before he could answer, Slughorn cleared his throat to announce that we were all here.

The potions professor offered us refreshments, and in a bizarre form of meet-and-greet, he introduced all of us to the rest of the room. As he made his way around, he shared a personal detail, usually a famous relative or impressive connection in the wizarding world, and then asked us what our career aspirations were.

I could feel my palms sweating as he made his way through the circle and closer to me. I had no famous relatives, unless you counted my great uncle Barney who had won an ale-drinking contest (he drank twenty three in one hour) and then, unsurprisingly, immediately dropped dead. It made national news. I had also certainly never even thought about life after Hogwarts. It always seemed so far away.

My heart began to pound. He was already talking about Frank and his uncle on the Wizengamot. "Still set on being an auror?" Slughorn questioned him in a tone that was a little too lighthearted if you ask me.

"Yes, sir" Frank replied seriously. "I am absolutely decided on it."

There was a bit of whispering from the Slytherin side of the room, and a few outright glares.

"Good for you, son, good for you," Slughorn nodded, rubbing his stomach thoughtfully.

"And what about you Miss Evans?" he turned his attention on him. "For those of you who don't know," he glanced around the room, "Miss Evans is a Gryffindor prefect, and one of the most talented young witches I have ever taught." He grinned proudly at me, and I'm sure my face turned at least as red as my hair.

My mind was working furiously trying to come up with a reasonable wizarding career aspiration. Surely trolley woman on the Hogwarts Express wouldn't do. "I'm interested in a career in the ministry," I stalled, trying to look more sure than I sounded.

"Ah yes, what department?" Slughorn asked as delicately as he could. There were still a few sneers and snickers coming from around the room.

 _Think, brain, think! Be smart, brain!_ "Magical Law Enforcement," I piggybacked off of Frank's answer.

"Interesting, Miss Evans. Are you considering the attacks on muggles?" he asked, somewhat uncomfortably. I was tempted to say no, just to wipe the grins off of a few of the Slytherins' faces, but seeing an easy escape from my predicament, I quickly answered, "Yes!"

"Good, good," he nodded to me before moving onto Caradoc. I breathed a sigh of relief and settled back comfortably on the couch for the rest of the evening.

It was around eight when Slughorn finally released us to return to our Common Rooms. Frank had prefect duty on the first and second floor corridors, so he quickly split off, leaving Caradoc and I in an awkward silence as we slowly made our way up to the seventh floor. I grappled desperately for something to talk about, cursing myself for not paying closer attention when Slughorn was questioning him.

"How are you enjoying prefect duty?" he asked, grinning.

"Oh, it's an absolute blast," I grinned sardonically. "It's always been a dream of mine to interrupt snogging couples and order them back to their dormitories, makes you really popular," I rolled my eyes.

"And your partner?" he asked, facing forward, but eyeing me from the side.

"Remus?" I shrugged. "He's a nice bloke, a little quiet. He's doing his job, if that's what you're asking." The words came out slightly harsher than I had intended, but I was annoyed at him for his lack of faith in Remus. Obviously, McGonagall thought he was the right choice, so why did Caradoc doubt him?

"Sorry," he raised his hands in surrender. "It's not him, it's those gits he hangs around." I nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Remus is decent, though," I told him, feeling a little guilty for throwing the other three under the bus. _It's their fault_ , I defended myself. _They're the ones who go around hexing people and acting like a bunch of wankers._

"Should I be worried about you two off snogging in a broom cupboard, then?" he asked, jokingly. There was a slight edge to it, though.

I coughed, surprised at what he had said. "No!" I shrieked. "No no no, absolutely not. Never. No," I stammered. He laughed at my reaction.

"There someone else you fancy, then?" he asked, still lightly but more serious than before.

My face flushed red. "Even if I did, it wouldn't be any of your business," I argued, willing my blush to go away while cursing my pale skin and red hair.

"No, I suppose it wouldn't be," he sighed. Could that be disappointment that I detected in his voice?

We arrived at the entrance to the common room, and I turned from him to say the password to the Fat Lady. Before I could get the password out, he turned to me expectantly.

"If you were to decide that it is my business," he smiled knowingly at me. "Perhaps we could talk about it at the next Hogsmeade visit?" He gave me a hopeful look.

"Are you asking me on a date?" I asked, partially teasing, partially genuinely unsure.

"Date... business meeting... whichever you prefer," he grinned.

"I suppose I could squeeze you into my schedule," I grinned, refusing to look him in the eyes, as we walked into the Gryffindor common room. Familiar music was playing from the corner of the room where Potter and the other so-called Marauders were sitting.

"Evans!" I heard Potter exclaim over the sound of my record player. "You were right, these people are bloody brill-" the smile slipped off of his face and was replaced by a look of confusion as he no doubt took note of my flustered expression and the boy standing beside me.

"I better go," Caradoc decided wisely, nodding to the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. "I'll see you around," he told me, touching my arm before turning and walking the opposite direction of Potter, likely another wise choice.

"What was that about?" Dorcas asked, looking up from her potions textbook as I sat on the couch closest to the fire, a dazed look on my face. Alice and Mary saw me come in and quickly moved to join us.

"He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him," I tested the words in my mouth, running over the events of the last five minutes to make sure I hadn't misinterpreted some part of them.

"I told you!" Mary shouted at Dorcas, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. "Men do like women's hair down better! _Witch Weekly_ is just a bunch of rubbish my arse!"

"Details!" Alice announced. "I need details!"

"I don't know, it just sort of _happened_ ," I shook my head.

"Well, when did he ask?" Alice prodded, leaning in closer.

"Just before we walked through the portrait hole," I explained.

"No wonder you looked ill when you came in," Potter said from behind me, an indecipherable look on his face.

"Shut it, Potter," Dorcas silenced him with a look.

"What did you say?" Alice asked eagerly.

"I told him I'd see if I could fit it into my schedule," I blushed. Potter barked out a laugh, while Mary muttered, "typical" with an indulgent smile. "Was that wrong?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"No," Alice shook her head. "Just very _you_."

"I can't believe you're going on a date with the head boy!" Mary squeeled. "It's like a fairy tale."

"Yeah, if fairy tales involved doing homework and making prefect schedules," Potter scoffed. "Besides, it's not really a date."

"What do you mean, 'it's not really a date'?" Dorcas glared at him.

"It isn't actually a date, is it Evans?" he turned to me, looking thrown.

"I was under the impression that that is what people do in Hogsmeade... go on dates," I told him, wondering if I really had misinterpreted things.

"Please tell me you aren't actually dating that prat," he sounded almost angry.

"He's perfectly nice," I told him, my own temper rising. "Just because you have some weird problem with him doesn't mean that I do."

"Yes, I do have a problem with him," he told me, his voice rising. "The problem being that he's a prat!"

"Oh, and you're so wonderful?" I argued, crossing my arms.

"I'm a sight better than him," he stated, crossing him arms, an arrogant look on his face.

"That has yet to be seen," I muttered. He seemed ready to argue, but turned and stalked up the stairs to the boys' dormitories instead. Not knowing what to do Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked around awkwardly before following Potter. A silence fell over the common room as a few other students had stopped talking to watch Potter.

"That was…" Alice started, looking startled.

"Weird," I finished for her, before shaking my head and deciding to put the whole thing out of my mind. _What does Potter's opinion matter anyway?_ I told myself.

"I wonder if Caradoc's a good snogger," Mary wondered aloud, breaking the mood.

"Guess you'll have to ask Lily after her date," Dorcas teased.

* * *

 **Please review, any feedback is appreciated :)**


	5. Everybody's Got Something to Hide

Following Caradoc's invitation, surprisingly little changed in my daily life. Since it was his NEWT year and my OWL year, both of us were far too busy to see each other on more than a passing basis. He would occasionally walk me to breakfast or sit with me in the library, but we didn't do much more than that. He made one attempt to sit with me at dinner, which ended in Potter hitting him with a Bat Bogey hex that was persuasive enough to send him back to his usual seat beside Frank Longbottom. The verbal lashing and three days' detention he received weren't nearly enough to stifle Potter's satisfaction at getting his way.

In fact, the thing that changed the most was Potter. He was quickly becoming the biggest nuisance in my life. Everyday I would find him and Black leaning against a wall in some corridor, hexing any Slytherin student that happened to walk by, and even a few from other houses. A particularly nasty incident involved Bertram Audrey, an admittedly unpleasant third year, getting sent to the hospital wing with his head blown up to twice its normal size. Detention, chastisement, and threats did nothing to inhibit his behavior, and if anything he took it as a challenge, seeing how far he could go before being expelled.

It became a never-ending cycle; he would hex someone, I would tell him off, he would ignore me, and the process would start over again. It seemed that every time I turned a corner, he was there with a smug grin blasting illegal spells at anyone in his way. I wasn't sure who got the worst of it: Severus or Caradoc. Caradoc was better at ignoring Potter's behavior, but Severus fell into the trap over and over again. Breaking up near-brawls was practically becoming a hobby for me.

"Why can't you just leave him alone?" I begged Potter and Black in the common room after dropping Caradoc off at the hospital wing. They had gotten him with a Conjunctivitis curse on our way back from the library. They had also gotten double detention, but that certainly didn't deter them.

"Evans, haven't we had this conversation before?" Potter smirked at me, running his hands through his hair. "Padfoot?" he looked at Sirius for confirmation.

He pretended to think for a moment before nodding. "You know, I think it is does ring a bell, Prongs," Sirius affirmed with mock sincerity.

"No, this is going past the point of flouting authority," I persisted. "It's like you're doing it just to… I don't know, be mean."

Potter put his hand over his heart in mock concern, "Aw, Evans, are we hurting your feelings?"

"No, you're pissing me off!" I shouted. The two of them just laughed at my outburst, and I realized nothing I said would make a difference. I stomped up to the girls' dormitories and remained there for the rest of the night.

Just because I had had it with two of the Marauders didn't mean I was ready to give up on my plans for their friend, however. I was making very little headway in my plan to get Remus to ask Alice out. I constantly searched for ways to bring her up while Remus and I were on prefect duty to find out exactly how he felt about her.

"I'm really struggling with the banishing charm," I told him one night while we were patrolling the sixth floor.

"Really? You seemed to be doing it well in class," he said, giving me a slightly skeptical look.

"Well that's just because Alice has been working on it with me," I told him, hoping he didn't notice how high pitched my voice had become. I'm not exactly the best liar Hogwarts has ever seen.

'That was nice of her," he commented, but left it at that. We fell back into silence; the only noise in the empty corridor was our steady footsteps.

"Alice is just such a nice person, don't you think?" I pushed, desperate to get something out of him.

"Yes, she is," he nodded absently.

"And really smart, too," I added. "Not to mention selfless and considerate and cute as a button."

"Lily, are you all right?" he was looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Yeah," I lied, shoving my sweaty hands in the pockets of my robes. "Wh-why wouldn't I be?" I stuttered, trying to make it seem as if he was the one acting like a lunatic, in spite of the very obvious fact that we both knew it was me.

"Well, that was about the sixth time you've brought Alice up in the last thirty minutes," he told me, smirking.

"Was it?" The words sounded strained, even to my own ears. "It didn't feel like it…" I refused to face him, keeping my eyes on the stone floor ahead of us.

"Is there something you want to tell me about Alice?" he asked, stopping directly in front of me so I had to face him.

"Is there something _you_ want to tell me about Alice?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Lily!" he laughed, though it was tinged with exasperation.

"All right!" I gave up. "I just thought that maybe you and Alice would make a cute couple," I shrugged. "I mean you're both nice and studious and you have the same-"

"No," he interrupted me with finality.

"N-no?" I stuttered, slightly surprised by his tone.

"I don't date," he told me. His eyes looked a lot more serious than his words sounded.

"There's a first time for everything," I suggested weakly.

"I'd really rather not," he turned away from me and began walking down the hallway again. I hurried to catch up to him, falling into step beside him.

"I mean, you don't have to _date_ date," I told him, slightly desperate. "I mean you two could just go to Hogsmeade together-"

"On a date?" he interrupted, slightly amused but mostly just looking annoyed.

"No!" I argued. "On a… friendly outing." I knew my argument was weak at best, but I gave him a hopeful look anyway.

He seemed to think for a moment before making a decision. "I'll tell you what, if I take Alice on one 'friendly outing" he put air quotes around the words, "-to Hogsmeade, do you promise to drop this and never bring it up again?"

Deciding I wasn't likely to get any better offers, I nodded and shook his hand. "It's a deal."

* * *

Alice was thrilled when Remus asked her that Friday, though he had stipulated that it would just be as friends. Mary and Dorcas assured her it was only because he was afraid of rejection, and I dutifully kept my mouth shut and nodded in agreement. After asking her to Hogsmeade, though, Remus kept a suspiciously low profile. All of the Marauders did, for that matter. When they weren't off in a corner whispering to each other, they were up in their dormitory undoubtedly plotting some sort of mayhem.

I could have sworn I overheard them saying something about the whomping willow and the shrieking shack in the common room one night before Sirius noticed I was watching them and suggested they take their discussion elsewhere. I was hardly heartbroken by their sudden need to keep to themselves and took advantage of it while it lasted. I spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon walking around the grounds with Severus, an occurrence that was becoming increasingly as the years went on.

"So how was your first visit to the Slug Club?" he mocked me, as we walked along the shoreline of the Black Lake.

"Just about as thrilling as you'd expect," I joked. I had been avoiding bringing up the subject because I had a vague suspicion that he was upset that I had received an invitation and he hadn't.

"What do you even do there?" he asked, kicking a small stone as he walked.

"Well once the ritual sacrifice was over we signed a contract with our blood declaring our undying loyalty to Horace Slughorn…I'm kidding," I laughed at his shocked look. "We sat around in a circle and he asked us about our career aspirations."

"Your career aspirations?" He raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Yup," I said, making a loud popping noise on the "p" sound.

"What did you say?" he laughed.

"I made something up," I shrugged. "Something about wanting to investigate attacks on muggles in the department of magical law enforcement."

He stopped walking and grabbed me by the shoulders, his face serious. "You said that in front of all those people?" he demanded. The look on his face put a cold feeling in my stomach and I felt my fingers start to go numb.

"With some prompting, yes." I couldn't figure out what he was getting so worked up about. "Should I not have said that?" I asked, genuinely confused about his violent reaction. I felt like a nine year old again, clueless about the wizarding world and utterly dependent on Severus to explain it to me.

"It probably upset a few people…"

I thought of the murmurs and outright glares Frank had received when he announced his desire to be an auror and shrugged. "I'm not worried about offending a few would-be death eaters."

"Maybe you should be," he chastised me. "No point putting a target on your back." He continued walking, his eyes downcast.

"It's already a well-known fact that I'm a muggleborn, I may as well show them that I'm not afraid of them."

"You're such a Gryffindor," he shook his head, refusing to look at me.

"Thank you," I declared, slightly annoyed at the turn the conversation had taken. I had no desire to talk about you-know-who. I searched for a different topic of conversation, not wanting to end this rare time together on a bad note.

"Alice has a date to Hogsmeade," I told him, settling for gossip as a safe enough topic. "Well, not technically a _date_ , but close enough."

Severus gave me an exasperated look before giving in and deciding to play along. "With whom?"

"Remus Lupin," I told him. "I honestly think they'd make a good couple, similar temperaments and all that." He stopped walking again, and I stifled a sign of frustration. "What now?"

"There's something weird about him," Severus muttered, shaking his head. His eyes shifted toward the Forbidden Forest. "Have you noticed he always misses classes the day after the full moon?"

My eyes narrowed; I had a feeling I knew what he was hinting at but I wanted to hear him say it anyway. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I don't think it's ridiculous to consider the possibility that he might be…" he trailed off, raising his eyebrows at me.

"A werewolf?" I finished for him, utterly unconvinced.

"The full moon is tomorrow night, I bet he hasn't been looking well," he started, earning himself a glare.

"Not that I've seen, no," I told him, choosing to leave out the fact that I hadn't actually seen Remus since Friday. "Remus Lupin is quite possibly the least werewolf-like person in all of Britain; he's probably the most mild teenage boy I've ever met."

Severus ignored me, still lost in his own paranoid theories. "There's definitely _something_ wrong with him, and I'm going to find out what it is."

"Please don't," I begged him. "Just leave him be. He's never really done anything to you. There's no need to draw attention to yourself where Potter and Black are involved, and they are definitely involved with Remus."

"He's certainly never done anything for me either." I could hardly argue with him there, so I settled for giving him a pleading look. "Besides, I can't have them thinking I'm afraid of them," he used my own words against me. "Potter," he scoffed. "Thinks he's so great…" he muttered to himself. I sighed, wishing that for once, teenaged boys would not make my life difficult.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, I couldn't help noticing that Remus did look a bit peaky. His face was drawn and sallow and he had hardly any appetite. I did my best to push Severus's theory as far out of my mind as I could; after all, it could just be a poorly timed cold.

"Are you feeling all right, Remus?" I asked him as he nibbled on his toast.

"No, I think I'm coming down with something," he told me before coughing into the crook of his arm.

"Moony has a very delicate disposition," Sirius explained, as Remus looked up to glare at him. "Been that was since he was a child." He shook his head in mock sorrow and patted Remus on the back, making the sandy-haired boy flinch.

The nickname suddenly struck me. I pushed back the thoughts that were fighting their way to the forefront of my mind; if he really were a werewolf, they wouldn't possibly be so outright about it. _It has to just be a coincidence_ , I told myself. _Just like his cold is a coincidence_.

When we arrived at Potions, Sev took one look at Remus before throwing me a look that I didn't need words to understand. _I told you so_. I looked pointedly away, determined to ignore him.

When I made my way down to the common room before patrols, Remus was nowhere to be found. I made my way over to where the rest of the Marauders were sitting, once again huddled and talking in hushed tones.

"Where's Remus?" I asked, hoping to Merlin that he was just upstairs in his dormitory resting.

"Hospital wing," Sirius answered, eyeing me suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"We have prefect duty tonight," I explained, my stomach dropping as I realized with dread that I might have to patrol Hogwarts' hall alone.

"There's no way he could patrol tonight," Potter told me, giving me a sympathetic look. "He's far too ill."

"Oh," I said, not bothering to hide my disappointment. "I guess I should get going then."

"Bye," Sirius waved, clearly glad to see me go. I had to fight the urge to call him a git before I turned toward the portrait hole.

"Lily!" I heard a voice call me from behind. Caradoc jogged up to me, grinning. "Remus told me he wouldn't be able to patrol tonight, so I'm covering for him."

"Thank Merlin," I smiled at him. "I wasn't looking forward to two hours with no one to talk to but paintings."

"Don't let them hear you say that," he warned me as we made our way out into the seventh floor corridor. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm also supposed to be patrolling the first and second floors, so we're going to have to do quite a bit of walking. Unless you'd prefer I left you alone…"

"I don't mind," I shrugged. It was certainly better than ruining the nights of hormonal teenagers by myself.

"Good," he grinned at me. He really was easy to please, and easy to get along with. In spite of the extra floors, I found myself enjoying prefect duty with him. We mostly made small talk, which was interrupted by the occasional pair of students out after hours.

"I must say, I've never really seen the attraction of snogging in a broom cupboard," Caradoc told me after breaking up our third couple of the night.

"Probably because you've never done it," I teased him.

"And you have?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at me. He suddenly appeared less opposed to the idea.

"Even if I had, I wouldn't tell the head boy about it," I taunted.

"Maybe you'll have to show me what all the fuss is about," he grinned, making me blush from the neck to my forehead. Realizing that I had talked myself into a corner, I searched desperately for some way to respond that wouldn't make me seem like a total slag or a tease. Before I could say a word, though, he suddenly shouted "Ow!"

"What's wrong?" I asked him, thankful for the interruption. He rubbed his back, glancing around suspiciously.

"Something hit me! It felt like a stinging hex…"

My eyes scanned the hall, looking for Potter. I had no proof that it was him, but it seemed exactly like the kind of thing he would do. There was no one there, though, not even the faint shimmer of someone disguised by a disillusionment charm.

"I don't see anyone… Maybe it was a bee or something?" I suggested, at a loss.

"A bee?" he laughed. "Maybe Hogwarts has in infestation." His joking mood seemed to have returned, but he still glanced around us apprehensively.

"As if there aren't already enough pests," I sighed, and I could have sworn I heard a quiet chuckle behind me. When I glanced back, though, I saw nothing.

We continued down the first floor corridor, occasionally glancing into classrooms and closets. As I opened one door, a swish of black caught my eye. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"Caradoc!" I called.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to go to the loo, go on up to the second floor and I'll meet you there."

"Are you sure?" he asked, watching my expression carefully.

"Yeah," I nodded, grinning. He smiled back, and I waited as he made his way up the staircase. As soon as he was out of sight, I ducked into the classroom whose door I had just closed.

"Sev!" There was silence. "I know you're in here," I growled. He stepped shamefacedly out from behind the blackboard. "What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped. "And don't try telling me you're patrolling because I know you aren't."

"Lily, don't be mad," he tried to calm me, which only served to make me angrier. I crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation. "I was in the library and I lost track of time, I swear! I was just on my way to the dungeons." I gave him a withering look. "It's true! Look, I have my books with me and everything." He was, indeed, carrying his schoolbag.

Instead of wasting any more time arguing, I decided it would be easier to just let him go. "Fine. I have to get back to patrolling, Caradoc will think something happened if I take any longer. Promise me you'll go straight back your dormitory," I demanded.

"I promise, Lily!" he swore, his hands held out pleadingly.

"Alright then," I gave in, still giving him a hard look. "I'll go out first and make sure Caradoc is still upstairs. If I don't come back that means it's safe to go to the dungeons." He nodded, and I slipped out of the classroom, glancing both ways for any sign of the Head Boy. Seeing none, I made my way down the corridor and then up the stairs. Caradoc was taking points from a pair of sheepish looking Ravenclaw sixth years. He sent them off to their dormitories as I approached him.

"That was less points than you took before," I pointed out, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes at him.

"I'm starting to understand their point of view," he told me, winking.

* * *

When Remus failed to make it to any of his classes the next day, both Alice and I became concerned, though for obviously different reasons. _It's just a coincidence,_ was becoming my hourly mantra. Even so, when Alice suggested that we visit Remus in the hospital wing, I shouted "no!" before I could stop myself.

Alice, Mary, and Dorcas all gave me a shocked look and I scrambled to justify my bizarre outburst. "You don't want him to think that you're more into him than he is into you," I babbled, grasping desperately at a semi-reasonable excuse. "You should be playing hard to get, blokes like that," I looked to Mary for confirmation.

"She is right," Mary said thoughtfully, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "But if he's still sick tomorrow, you could go and pretend to be giving him any homework that he missed," she suggested smiling coyly.

I thankfully managed to keep my mouth shut instead of pointing out that his mates were probably already doing that, especially if this were as often an occurrence as Sirius had suggested it was. _A monthly occurrence?_ Whispered the part of my brain, which sounded suspiciously like Severus, that I was trying desperately to silence.

The truth was I had no interest in angering Sirius and Potter anymore than my vague interest in Remus had. Showing up at the hospital would probably make them think that I was just snooping around, trying to find out more about what was actually wrong with him. Regardless of what his illness was, they seemed to be very protective over him, and I had no desire to find out how far that protectiveness could go.

So instead of going to the hospital wing, we settled in around the fire in the common room, which was undoubtedly vacant because of Remus's confinement in the hospital wing. The rest of the Marauders had left for the hospital wing immediately after classes ended and had yet to return. That's where we were when Frank Longbottom approached; his handsome face was vaguely pink and the way he held himself, eyes downcast and hands shoved in his pockets, made him look slightly embarrassed.

"Er, Alice?" he said as he stood in front of us. She looked up from her Charms essay, and a smile broke out over her face.

"Frank! How are you? How was your summer?" Alice asked excitedly. She was far happier to see him than I had expected given her glib treatment of him when he was the subject of conversation in the past.

"Oh, er- good, it was good," he said, less uncomfortable than before. "I was interning for my Uncle Alfie, which was mainly just making tea and filing papers. So that was about as fun as it sounds," he rolled his eyes.

"I bet," Alice said, still smiling at him. "Did you need something?" she asked, looking slightly confused.

"Er-well, yes," he started, becoming tense again. "I was wondering if, well, er- if you could help me with Muggle Studies?" he asked, looking hopeful.

Alice looked slightly taken aback. "You want _my_ help with muggle studies?" I knew the expression on my face had to be the same as hers. Alice came from just as pureblood of a family as Frank did, and she was a year behind him. Granted, she did do extremely well in the class, but that was probably because Mary and I explained anything that confused her and usually one of us was present when she wrote her papers so she could have a reference.

"You're really quite good at it," he told her, still giving her that wide-eyed hopeful look that usually made her cave. "At least, that's what everyone says."

Alice blushed at the compliment before stammering," Well, er- I can't really take all the credit for that." She glanced over at me and a thought seemed to occur to her as she grinned widely. "Maybe Lily could tutor you!" she suggested, looking thrilled with herself for having thought of it. "Oh, could you Lily?" she asked, giving me the same look Frank had been giving her. I tried to steel myself against it, but I knew it would be hopeless. I was a sucker for puppy dog eyes.

"I guess so…" I gave in, clearly not thrilled at the prospect of having any more responsibilities than I already had. But Frank was a nice bloke, and I wouldn't mind spending more time with him. "Is that alright with you?" I asked him, noting that his expression had fallen into a slight frown.

"Yeah," Frank said, pulling his face back up into a smile, though it wasn't quite as large or genuine as it had been before. "That sounds great! Tuesdays at six work for you?" he asked.

I nodded, and he smiled at me before returning to his friends on the other side if the common room.

"I didn't know Frank took muggle studies," Dorcas muttered beside me once Frank was out of earshot.

"Neither did I," Alice shrugged seeming unbothered. "I guess he just never needed help before."

* * *

 **As always, thank you for reading! Pretty please review- I'd love to get some feedback/constructive criticism!**


	6. Flying

September flew by, and before I knew it October had arrived, bringing with it Gryffindor's first quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Potter had been steadily increasing the frequency of practices until the Gryffindor team could be found on the pitch nearly every night. He became more irritable with every day and had frequent spats with the other quidditch captains, particularly Benjy Fenwick, the Hufflepuff team captain, over access to the pitch.

The two had been making a scene outside the Great Hall the Tuesday before the game when Professor McGonagall finally told them to stop acting like a "pair of baboons with broomsticks" and gave Fenwick rights to the pitch Wednesday and Friday night. She quickly silenced Potter's protests and instructed he go before she rethought who should receive the captaincy. He sat at the Gryffindor table with a huff, the look on his face daring us to say anything.

"I think that went well," Dorcas stated blandly, ignoring Potter's glare as she poured gravy over her mashed potatoes.

"Which part?" Sirius asked her, placing his elbow on the table and cradling his head in his hand. He looked at her sideways, "When she threatened to not let Prongs be captain, or when she gave Hufflepuff an advantage when the pitch was rightfully ours?"

"We've been practicing almost every night," Dorcas argued, slamming her fork down on the table with a scowl. "Michael Fry looks like he might keel over any moment! We could use a break if you ask me!"

"Well then it's a good thing no one asked you," Potter glared at her. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Fry might have good aim, but there isn't enough power behind any of his hits, which doesn't help us at all. Goode is quick, but she can't focus long enough to find the snitch first, she has to wait until someone else spots it for her. And Johnson still isn't working with us as she should be at this point, and as soon as their beaters see that, they'll take advantage of it. We need more practice," he insisted, shaking his head when Remus tried to offer him a roll.

"We need rest," Dorcas pleaded. "We're exhausted; all of us!" She looked to Sirius for some form of agreement, but he kept his eyes focused on his plate.

"That's too bad then, because I'll see you on the pitch in-" he glanced at his watch-"twenty minutes. And be ready to run drills," he snapped, before standing up and striding out of the Great Hall.

"Isn't he a right ray of sunshine," I muttered to no one in particular.

Dorcas growled in frustration before pushing her plate away and storming out after him.

"He's just worried about the match," Remus tried to defend his friend.

"I did get that impression, interestingly enough," I teased him. "He's getting far too worked up about it, though. He didn't even have a bite to eat!" I pointed to his untouched plate as evidence.

"You wouldn't understand," Sirius shook his head and gave me a superior look.

"Because Potter is such a complex individual?" I gave him a doubtful look.

"Because you've never had the kind of pressure placed on you that Prongs does," Sirius explained, pointing at me with his fork.

"That isn't true," I argued. "Just because I don't throw balls through a hoop while riding a piece of housekeeping equipment doesn't mean I don't understand what it's like to be put under pressure." I was secretly glad that Dorcas had already left so she didn't have to hear my little outburst.

"You do realize he's the youngest person made captain in over fifty years?" Sirius leveled his gaze at me. "It's his first year in charge, and Gryffindor has won three of the last four quidditch cups."

"I was there, so yes I am aware," I merely looked at him, my expression blank. "So what?"

Sirius looked ready to hex me, but Remus put his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "So he's afraid that if we lose this year, it will be his fault. Not to mention the fact that everyone would blame him for having the first losing team in recent memory," Remus explained patiently.

"That doesn't mean he has to torture everyone else," I shrugged, still not seeing why Potter was letting it get to him. Since when did James Potter give a flying hippogriff about what anyone thought of him? And it wasn't like he had much to worry about- he was a frustratingly good quidditch player. Though it was mostly just frustrating because he was aware of the fact and never let anyone else forget about it.

Sirius was still giving me a look like I had insulted his first born child and stood up. "I'm going to get ready for practice," his tone was disgusted, and he didn't look back as strode out of the hall. I made a mental note to avoid anyone on the Gryffindor quidditch team until Saturday's game was long over.

When I walked into the library after dinner, Frank was already sitting at a table waiting for me. This was our second tutoring session, though we had gotten very little done in our first. Frank had mostly just asked me about my life and my friends. Any questions I tried to ask him would somehow get turned around to focus back on me. After an hour and a half, and a thorough examination of every Gryffindor fifth year girl's favorite Honeydukes candy- "I like pumpkin pasties, but Alice prefers cauldron cakes, Merlin knows why"- I apologized for not being more helpful, but he insisted that it had been very informative. This time I had come prepared, though.

I took the seat across from him, and began rooting through my bag in search of the study material I had brought. "Hey, Lil-" he tried to greet me, but I silenced him with a finger, not willing to turn my attention away from the task at hand.

"Aha!" I shouted in triumph, pulling the heavy booklet out and tossing it on the table where it made a considerable thump.

"Er- what is that?" Frank asked, looking at the book with a confused look.

"This-" I gestured to the thick volume proudly, "is your study guide." I picked it up and flipped through the pages. "It's a housewares catalogue from my mum! I wrote her to send me an old one after I agreed to tutor you, and I just got it this week," I explained, handing it over to him. "All you've got to do is look through it and ask me when you don't know what something is or what it's for," I leaned back in my chair, grinning proudly at myself.

He gave me a suspicious look, but took the book anyway, opening it to a random page. "What the bloody hell is this?!" he asked, pointing to a picture of a Hoover.

"It's a vacuum cleaner," I explained, mentally criticizing Hogwarts' muggle studies curriculum. "It sort of just sucks up all the dirt and rubbish from the floors."

"Where does it all go?" he asked in astonishment.

"Into a bag that's attached. Once it gets full, you just throw the bag away and put a new one on," I shrugged, not really understanding his fascination with such a mundane facet of muggle life.

"Throw it away where?" he was utterly intrigued now.

"Er- a trashcan? Muggles keep a few in their houses and then when they get full you put all the trash outside in a bigger can that gets picked up once a week."

"By who?"

The questions continued on like this with object after object, and Frank began flipping through the catalogue eagerly. Electric foot massagers and blenders particularly excited him. I couldn't help but laugh when I thought of what his reaction would be to roller coasters and space shuttles, and quickly decided that I would write my mum again for more study materials.

Two hours passed before we had even realized it, and we decided that we had done enough work for one day and made our way up to the Gryffindor Common Room. "Bloody brilliant, those muggles," he muttered, shaking his head in amazement.

"Glad you think so," I chuckled. "Now you know how muggleborns feel when they come to Hogwarts."

"Do they really?" he asked, as if he had never considered this.

"Yes!" I laughed. "Suddenly surrounded by all of these wonderful things you never knew existed; it's all very exciting."

He seemed to think for a moment before he said, more to himself than to me, "Yes, I suppose that does make sense..." We walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "I want to thank you, Lily. I really, truly appreciate you doing this for me, showing me all these things." He was smiling sheepishly, but his eyes were set on the floor in front of us.

"It's no problem," I smiled. "Anything for your grades, right?" His smile seemed to slip for a moment, and I hurried to add, "I had fun, though! It's quite nice to impress somebody so easily."

He gave me a mock-offended look, and I shoved his shoulder, making him laugh. "Are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone?" he asked, looking awkward.

I panicked, hoping he wasn't going to ask what I thought he was. Frank was nice and all, but he wasn't exactly my type. Not that I had a type, but regardless. "Er- yes, I am," I coughed, trying to act natural.

"Good for you," he told me, punching my arm in a chummy manner. He seemed entirely genuine, throwing me for a loop. I flushed in embarrassment, cursing myself for being so presumptuous. "Are er- any of the other girls going?" he asked casually, glancing at the portraits on the walls.

I nodded, "Alice is going with Remus, but I think Mary and Dorcas are having a girls' day." I watched as he raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything else. By that time, we had arrived at the common room, and he waved goodbye before hurrying up to his dormitory.

* * *

The Saturday of the quidditch match dawned grey and gloomy, a perfect match for the Gryffindor team's attitudes. When I arrived at breakfast, Potter still wasn't eating, choosing instead to go over strategy with Sirius for what had to be the hundredth time. Dorcas was scowling into her porridge, shooting dark glances at the other two every few minutes.

"Good morning," I said, taking my seat next to Alice. She was silent, glancing at the others uneasily.

"Is it?" Remus asked, with a sidelong glance at his best mates. They ignored him, continuing their discussion as if the rest of us weren't even there. I sighed, throwing a dirty look at the two dark haired boys on my left.

"Can you pass the jam, please?" I asked Potter, who shoved it in my direction without so much as a glance. "Thank you," I raised my eyebrows at him, getting more frustrated when he continued to pretend I didn't exist. "You're welcome, Lily, it was no problem!" I said in a rather poor imitation of his voice, still looking at him expectantly.

He turned toward me, frowning, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually! You could be a bit more polite," I chastised him in a tone so reminiscent of my mother I might have actually shivered a bit. Peter was staring at me with his eyes wide, shaking his head vigorously.

"Well I think it would awfully _polite_ of you, Evans, to bugger off when we're in the middle of an important conversation!" As soon as he saw my face, he seemed to regret his words. He ran his hands through his hair nervously, glancing around the table for help. He found none, and faced me with a guilty look. "I didn't mean _bugger off_ -"

"Just for future reference," I interrupted him, glaring, "this table does not belong to you, nor is anyone here subject to you and your whims. If you're in a shite attitude then you can keep it to yourself!" I huffed, turning away from him and looking at Remus. "How are you this morning, Remus?"

"Fine," he said, smothering a grin.

Potter and Black were better behaved for the rest of breakfast; they at least stopped glaring at anything that moved. When they finally stood to go to the quidditch pitch, I grabbed Dorcas's hand, and pulled her down to eye level. "Don't forget what I told you," I whispered, giving her a significant look. Confusion was written all over her face until she realized what I was talking about and grinned broadly, skipping out of the Great Hall in much higher spirits.

The rest of us followed not long after, bundled up against the October chill. We found seats near the other Gryffindors and settled in for what we hoped would be a short match. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case. Hufflepuff didn't have the best team, though not the worst either- that distinction belonged to Ravenclaw-and all of their players were older students who had been playing together for years.

Though it was obvious that Potter had put together a strong team of individually talented players, they frequently failed to cooperate on simple plays. It was clear that the problem lay with the newer recruits who hadn't yet adjusted to their older teammates style of play. I cringed inwardly at the discovery that Potter had been right- they did need more practice. Even with their teamwork lacking, we managed to play admirably with Potter and Dorcas scoring frequently.

After three hours, we held the lead at three hundred and sixty points against Hufflepuff's two hundred and ten when Hufflepuff's seeker spotted the snitch. Our seeker, second year Maggie Goode, was at a disadvantage having not seen it first, and though she tried to make up for the lost time, she couldn't quite catch up. Potter seemed to realize at the same time the rest of us did that there was no hope of Maggie catching the snitch, and managed to put the quaffle through the goalpost just before Hufflepuff's seeker grasped the snitch, ending the game with a Gryffindor victory.

Following the match, the Gryffindor Common Room was practically vibrating with the amount of noise. Most of it revolved around Potter who was being hailed as a Gryffindor hero for his last minute score. He reveled in the attention, rehashing the moment in minute detail to anyone within hearing distance. When I spotted Dorcas, I rushed over to her, grabbing her in a hug, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," she smiled sheepishly. "I don't think I kept up my part of the bargain, though…"

"It doesn't matter, I doubt he remembers anyway," I nodded over to where Potter was standing surrounded by at least six girls all begging for him to tell them again what went through his mind when he realized Hufflepuff's seeker was about to catch the snitch. He was happy to oblige them, and I put as much distance as I could between him and myself, not interested in hearing about it for the twelfth time.

The Marauders had certainly outdone themselves and cases upon cases of butterbeer were stacked in a corner while a makeshift table had been set up and was overflowing with sweets from Honeydukes. I briefly wondered where they had gotten it all considering that the first Hogsmeade weekend wasn't for another week before I decided that it was probably best if I didn't know. I grabbed a chocolate wand and a bottle of butterbeer before settling near where Frank was sitting with Marlene McKinnon and Alice.

"Hullo," I greeted them, sliding into a large armchair beside Alice who scooted over to make room for me.

"Hey, Lils," Alice greeted me, breaking off a part of my chocolate wand and helping herself to it. "Have you met Marlene?" she asked nodding towards the tall brunette who had perched herself of the arm of the couch beside us.

"Not formally, no," I shook my head. "I'm Lily," I smiled at her.

"I know," she said, and I noticed that her voice was warm and friendly. "I'm Marlene, though I'm sure you recognize me from the prefect meetings. That's how I knew you, anyway," she shrugged.

"Ah, yes, prefect meetings," I nodded at her, "always such a thrill."

"How pathetic," Alice announced, and we looked at her in surprise. "At a party, and I'm sitting here with all the prefects." As she was speaking, Caradoc approached and took a seat beside Frank on the couch. "And the head boy too! Why don't we just invite McGonagall next?" she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"It's always nice to know my presence is desired," Caradoc told us sardonically.

"Don't worry about Alice," I told him, "she's just lamenting her own inability to make cooler friends." She stuck her tongue out at me and I stole back the piece she had taken from my chocolate wand. "No! You don't deserve this!" I teased her, holding it up out of her reach.

I felt someone pluck the pieces out of my hands, and turned to see Potter standing behind me smirking. "I've come to collect my reward," he announced in a voice that suggested he had been drinking something a little bit stronger than butterbeer.

"What reward?" I asked suspiciously.

"My recompense, if you will, for winning your little bet that Dorcas would score more than me in the match," he said, throwing himself on the couch between Frank and Caradoc.

"I would hardly call that a bet…" I muttered. "Besides, we never said there would be any prize for winning, so you can return to your adoring fans now," I gestured toward the other side of the room where Sirius had taken Potter's place at the center of a pack of girls, although that seemed to have less to do with his performance on the quidditch pitch and more to do with his classically good looks.

"I'm happy here, thanks," he ruffled his hair and smirked before leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I think, since there was no predetermined reward for the bet-"

"Not a bet," I interrupted, but he ignored me.

"-that I should get to choose my compensation," he gazed at me thoughtfully through the square glasses perched on his nose, his face calculating. I narrowed my eyes at him. "How about, since you were so woefully disadvantaged in your wagering, I'll go easy on you." I raised my eyebrows, not believing for a second that he wouldn't take as much advantage as he could from the situation. "All you have to do is go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend," he smiled at his own cleverness, content with his choice.

Caradoc sat up, ready to say something, but I spoke before he could. "I can't," I shook my head at him. "I'm already going with someone else." I decided not to point out that even if this were not the case I still wouldn't go with him- I didn't want to overwhelm his inebriated brain.

He looked confused for a moment, before recognition flashed in his eyes as he glanced at the boy beside him. His face fell in disappointment, or I could have been imagining it because a split second later, his smirk was back. "That's right…" he said, turning to squint at Caradoc, "I forgot about you." He shrugged before standing up, "I'll just have to cash that favor in later, Evans," he winked at me before swaggering off unsteadily toward Sirius.

"Is he always like that with you?" Caradoc asked, his face a combination of concern and annoyance.

"No," I said, watching Potter's retreating form with a slight frown. "Usually he's worse."

* * *

 **Okay, so this was a bit of a filler chapter, but I promise things are going to pick up soon! I would still like to hear from those who are reading, so please review!**


	7. Boys

The entire fifth year Gryffindor girls' dormitory awoke early the morning of the Hogsmeade trip- Alice and I to prepare for our dates, Mary and Dorcas to offer advice and assistance when necessary. I dressed unusually quickly given the circumstances and my tendency toward indecisiveness. It was sunny and temperate out- probably one of the last warm days for some time- so I decided to take advantage of it and put on a pretty peasant dress with a vest and comfortable but reasonably fashionable boots. I let Mary curl my hair with her wand while I put slightly more makeup on than was my standard. Mary nodded in approval once we were done. Alice, however, was an entirely different matter.

"I look like a tree," she groaned, scowling at her reflection. Her tan pants and green billowy top were giving her a distinctly foliage-like appearance.

"A very cute tree," Mary consoled her, pinching Alice's cheek. Alice quickly slapped Mary's hand away.

"Forget it, I'm not going," she huffed, crossing her arms and throwing herself down on her bed, a foul look overtaking her normally sweet, round face.

"Stop being dramatic," Dorcas chastised her, and handed her a sweater. "Put this on instead." Alice continued to pout, but did as she was instructed. "Better?" Dorcas asked, raising her eyebrows in mild amusement. Alice nodded and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Good, then we can finally go!" Mary announced, throwing the dormitory door open with a flourish.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked her, suspicious.

"If I can't get myself a date, then you can bet your arses I'm going to live vicariously through you two," she stated matter-of-factly as she led the way down the dormitory stairs.

Caradoc was waiting by the fireplace for me just as we had planned a few days earlier. He was wearing jeans and a button down, his dark blonde hair styled perfectly. He smiled when he saw us and quickly fell into step beside me as we followed the other girls out of the common room and down to the Great Hall.

"I must say, Evans, you clean up pretty nice," he murmured, shooting me a sideways glance. I nearly missed a step when he said it, and quickly attempted to cover it up by doing a strange little skipping movement.

"You're not so bad yourself," I tried putting on an unaffected air, but was quickly thwarted by the blush that spread up to my hairline. I didn't want him to know how easily his compliments could shake my normally calm demeanor, so I searched for a way to put the pressure onto him and away from myself. "And what exactly is it that you and I are dressed so smartly for?" I raised my eyebrows at him expectantly.

"Well, I was thinking that you and I could go to Madam Puddifoot's, and then just see where things go from there…" though his voice sounded confident, I thought I detected a trace of worry on his features, as if he were concerned about whether I would approve. I could hardly say the idea of Madam Puddifoot's excited me, but it wasn't as if I had ever been there before. The only things I knew about the place were from word of mouth. I was sure that there were plenty of girls who would be more than pleased at the idea of going with the boy beside me, so I fixed a believably excited smile on my face. This seemed sufficient enough to satisfy him, and he even gained enough confidence to place his hand on my back as we entered the Great Hall.

Alice's eyes scanned the room for Remus, but he was nowhere to be found. For a brief moment, I felt a stab of fear that he might be standing her up before I remembered that it was Remus I was thinking about. He would never stoop to that level, especially with a girl as sweet as Alice Tripe. A few seconds later, Remus did appear, but he was not alone- Potter and Pettigrew stood on each side of him like a pair of overprotective bodyguards.

"Alice!" he greeted her as he approached the group. Even after he had moved to approach us, the other two boys still remained almost uncomfortably close to their friend. Alice seemed to notice this as well, and was shooting confused looks at all of us. "I hope you don't mind, but Prongs and Wormtail were planning on joining us- seeing as this is just a friendly outing," he looked directly at Alice except for when he spoke the last two words. His eyes flashed to me when he used my own term against me, his eyes sparkling with humor at my expense.

"I'm sorry, who?" Dorcas asked, looking around for the two people Remus spoke of.

"Prongs," Remus nodded toward Potter who adjusted his glasses and mussed up his hair, "and Wormtail," he looked at Peter who smiled proudly.

"Why-" I started, then changed my mind, "actually, on second thought, I don't think I want to know," I sighed. I had learned long ago not that it was better to not question things when it came to the Marauders.

Remus was still looking at Alice expectantly, waiting for her answer. She looked at me for a way out, but all I could do was give her a sympathetic look. We both knew that she was stuck- she had agreed to go as just friends, so there was no reason for him to not bring other friends along with them. She nodded helplessly, and Remus grinned widely. "Smashing!" he said, clapping his hands together. "Shall we?" he began walking towards the doors of the castle, not even bothering to see if anyone was following him.

"Wait," Mary called, looking over each of the Marauders suspiciously. "Shouldn't there be four of you?" She was right; Sirius was conspicuously absent from his group, an almost unheard of occurrence.

"He has detention," Potter waved his hand dismissively at Mary's query, apparently unconcerned about his missing best mate. Mary shrugged, seeming to accept Potter's explanation, but I wasn't so certain. Although it was a perfectly plausible excuse, something about it didn't sit right with me; perhaps it was because, generally speaking, if Black was in detention then Potter was too, and vice versa. I could hardly call him a liar without any proof that what he was saying was untrue, though, so I was forced to let it go.

We all followed Remus as he led the way out of the castle and across the grounds. My heart ached for Alice as she tried to take a place beside him, but was edged out by Potter and Pettigrew on both sides. Caradoc and I allowed ourselves to fall behind the rest of the group. I nodded and laughed at the appropriate times as he told me about the time he accidentally set Emmeline Vance's hair on fire in potions during his fourth year, but I couldn't quite focus on what he was saying because I kept getting distracted by Potter. Every few seconds he would turn around and grin smugly at me, messing up his hair as he loped along beside Remus. I narrowed my eyes and frowned at him, but this did nothing to impede him.

We had already made it to town when Caradoc seemed to notice something was off. He noted my frown and his eyes shifted toward Potter. Caradoc's eyes followed the Potter's line of sight to a point somewhere just beyond my right shoulder. He tilted his head to the side, confused, "Is that dog following us?"

I turned to see what he was talking about, and sure enough a large black dog was trailing about fifteen yards behind where we were walking. I swung my head around to see if this was what Potter had been grinning about, but he had already disappeared into the Three Broomsticks with Remus, Alice, and Peter. "I doubt it… it'll probably go away once it realizes we haven't any food to give it."

I followed him into Madam Puddifoot's, a quaint little teashop that my friends and I had never bothered to visit before. It was usually chock full of snogging couples, and today was no exception. Most of the small round tables were occupied with Hogwarts students gazing lovingly at each other, hands and, more often than not, lips linked together. We found a table near the corner and sat down rather uncomfortably. The abundance of bows and frills in the tidy little shop reminded me of my grandmother's house, full of furniture that was meant to be looked at but never touched.

When a rather young stout witch came around, Caradoc ordered us two teas. We sat awkwardly, waiting for her to return. I glanced around nervously, hoping that Caradoc didn't expect that we would be snogging as enthusiastically and publically as some of our peers. I tensed slightly when he leaned across the table, but relaxed when he took my hand and leaned back.

"I'm glad we're doing this," he said with such a sweet smile that I felt a bit guilty for my apprehensiveness.

"Me too," I agreed, the words truer than I had expected them to be. "It's not everyday that a girl gets to go out with the Head Boy," I grinned.

"Ah, yes. Sad, but true. You should savor this experience, Evans," he teased.

"Oh, of course! It would be unconscionable of me not to!"

We were briefly interrupted by the arrival of our teas, and Caradoc took a sip looking thoughtful. "So," he began, looking at me with an analytical gaze, "tell me about the mysterious Lily Evans."

"Mysterious?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically.

He nodded, undeterred. "I think mysterious is as accurate a description as any. I don't know much about you other than the fact that you're a fifth year and a prefect and muggleborn. That last one is only because Charity never shuts up about it," he rolled his eyes. "And I also now know that you take your tea with milk and no sugar."

"Well, I suppose that's all the important points," I shrugged.

"Any siblings?" he asked, not even realizing that this was quite possibly the worst place to start getting to know me.

"Yes," I answered vaguely.

He gave me an expectant look, but when I didn't elaborate he prompted, "Brother or sister?"

"Sister," I told him shortly, trying to sound more casual than I felt.

"Older or younger?"

"Older."

"But she doesn't go to Hogwarts?" he seemed to determined to have the whole story in spite of my reticence.

"No," I sighed, "she doesn't. She would hate it here." He gave me a confused look, but I didn't want to explore the topic any further so I decided to step in before he could continue his line of questioning. "What about you? Any siblings?"

"Nope, not one. It's just me and my mum." I was able to keep up a stream of questions about his mother and growing up in the wizarding world that prevented him from asking me any more about my home life and took up the better part of a half hour. That was when something outside of the window caught his attention. "Merlin, look at him just sitting out there watching us!"

The black dog was sitting on the ground just outside of the teashop, staring at us intently though the window. I felt a pang of guilt at how hungry he must have been if he was following us so determinedly. "Maybe we should bring him something," I suggested to Caradoc.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? He might never leave us alone, then, and we both know they don't allow dogs at Hogwarts."

"Well, clearly he has no intention of leaving us alone as it is," I pointed out, grabbing the witch who had taken our order. "Could you bring us some biscuits, please?" I asked, and smiled when she nodded. Once she brought them, I stood up and pulled a few knuts out an placed them on the table.

"I'll take care of it," Caradoc told me, trying to hand the money back to me.

"No, really, I insist! I'm the one who wanted to feed the stray," I grinned, taking his hand as we walked out of the shop. The dog was still sitting, rather impatiently, waiting for us. I approached cautiously, kneeling about a foot from where the dog sat watching me. "Here, boy," I held one of the biscuits out, trying to coax the animal closer to me. It seemed unmoved by my offer, looking at me in a way that seemed almost critical.

"I don't know, Lily, he looks pretty well-fed to me," Caradoc said, and the dog growled at him. I frowned at Caradoc before turning back to the dog.

"Don't listen to him. You're a very handsome boy, aren't you?" The dog seemed to preen at the compliment and finally took the biscuit from my hand. He was a beautiful animal. He was well proportioned and his dark fur was shiny and surprisingly clean, making me think he might belong to one of the shopkeepers. His eyes were an unusual grey color and startlingly intelligent. Something about the large dog seemed unsettlingly _familiar_ , but I shook it off as having probably seen him around the village before. He let me gently pet his head as he finished off the biscuits, and I smirked at Caradoc.

"I swear, animals usually like me," he shook his head at the dog, looking more than a little miffed at its cold treatment of him.

"Not this one," I teased him, giving the dog one final pat on the head before standing and brushing the dirt off my knees. The dog seemed to have become more comfortable and placed itself directly in-between Caradoc and myself, growling whenever Caradoc tried to touch him.

This continued for the rest of the day. Every time Caradoc and I entered a shop, the dog would sit outside waiting for us and as soon as we emerged he would resume his place between us, not allowing Caradoc to come near me or take my hand, to his obvious chagrin. I loaded up on sweets at Honeydukes- pumpkin pasties, sugar quills, chocolate frogs, and licorice wands. "It's OWL year, this is necessary," I explained at Caradoc's shocked gaze.

By the time I had purchased new quills at Scrivenshaft's and bought a scarf for Dorcas, whose birthday was coming up in November, the sun was starting to set and we decided it would be best to go back to the castle. Just as I opened my mouth to ask what we should do about our new four-legged friend, the dog seemed to realize out intention and ran back toward the center of the village.

"I don't suppose he could have done that three hours ago," Caradoc sighed, his laugh containing just a twinge of annoyance.

"He was probably hoping he could get something else from us," I laughed, reaching over and taking his hand. This seemed to satisfy him and he was content to chat idly about the quidditch match from the week before as we approached the castle. I froze when I spotted a familiar figure exiting the greenhouses.

"Sev!" I called, dropping Caradoc's hand without thinking about it and waving. He glanced nervously at the two companions I had failed to notice before. Mulciber and Avery were their usual hulking selves, and scowled when they saw us approaching. They whispered something to Severus and then turned and walked away from us, toward the castle. "What are you doing out here?" I asked him, forcing my voice to sound nonchalant. Something about the situation seemed off, but I tried to not let it bother me.

"I was just helping them with the herbology homework," he gestured to where the two Slytherins had disappeared. "Why are you out here?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing when he took in my companion.

"We're just getting back from Hogsmeade." Some part of my subconscious urged me to put more distance between Caradoc and myself; perhaps it was the vaguely hurt look of Severus's face. We used to go on Hogsmeade visits like this together, and I felt a sharp pang from my conscience for not thinking of him. "I don't suppose you went?"

I knew his answer even before he shook his head and grunted out a stiff, "No." He seemed determined to not look at the boy beside me, and kept his eyes fixed on the ground in front of my feet.

I'm not sure whether it was guilt or nostalgia, but I found myself saying, "We'll have to go together next time, then, won't we?" I tried to ignore the shocked look I was getting from Caradoc and focus instead on the significantly brighter expression on Severus's face.

"Yeah, I mean, if you want to," he hedged, unsure about whether I was being sincere in my offer.

"Of course!" I insisted, determined to prove to him and to myself that I wasn't a poor friend. "It'll be like old times." I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince him or me.

"That'd be good," he smiled, seeming pleased with this turn of events. "I'd better get back," he glanced at the castle and I nodded, motioning for him to go ahead.

"I'll see you around," I told him as he retreated in the same direction Avery and Mulciber had gone. I turned back to Caradoc, suddenly nervous. He had a confused look on his face. I opened my mouth to explain, but he held his hand up to silence me. He seemed to be working something out in his head, so I stood silently and waited.

He finally spoke, "Corect me if I've misunderstood, but did you just ask someone else to go out with you while you're still on a date with me?"

"What?" I exclaimed, shocked that that was how he had interpreted the situation. "No! Sev and I are just friends, we've known each other since we were kids," I tried to explain.

"You two," he gestured between me and the space that Severus had been occupying before, "are friends?"

"Yes," I answered, slightly defensive. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"I- no, I mean, it's your choice," he stuttered. "I just didn't expect-" he trailed off and I raised my eyebrows. "I just thought because-"

"Because he's a Slytherin?" I interrupted, crossing my arms.

"Because of those pureblood supremacist arseholes he hangs around and all of those books about dark magic he's always got tucked under his arm," he explained. "He doesn't exactly seem like your cup of tea."

"Well that's for me to decide, isn't it?" I asked defiantly. He seemed slightly offended by this, and I tried to diffuse the situation. "Look," I explained, suddenly nervous about how personal this had become. "Sev and I go way back, and I owe him a lot. The books and the less than ideal friends… they're just proof that he needs me around even more. He's my friend; I can't just abandon him. I won't."

He nodded, but his face still looked dubious. "I can't tell you what to do," he shrugged. "So does this mean I won't be getting a second date?" he asked me in a joking tone.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, surprised at how he had come to that conclusion.

"Well, it appears you've already got an engagement for the next Hogsmeade visit," he shrugged, looking at me with doleful eyes.

"There are other ways to see me beside taking me to Hogsmeade," I told him, surprised by just how effective his pleading look was. He was classically handsome, his features straight and regular, each blonde hair laying just so, his blue eyes clear and honest. He had the kind of face that was meant to be looked at.

"Such as?" he asked, taking a step toward me. He was closer than he had ever been before, and I could feel my face heating up.

I struggled to keep my heart rate in check as I scoured my brain for a witty response. "I remember hearing something about broom cupboards?" I joked, and I saw his lips turn up in a small grin just before they touched mine.

The first thought that entered my mind was that his lips were softer than mine ever could have been, and that I should ask him what lip balm he used. The second was to question whether I was doing it right. I mean, the only other boy I had ever kissed was Andrew Mackey in third year, and that was only because Mary had dared me. That could hardly be considered experience. I'd tried to do it quickly and ended up nearly breaking his nose, so my track record wasn't the best. I mostly just mimicked his movements, and I thought I was doing adequately until I felt Caradoc jerk away suddenly.

I panicked, wondering what I had done wrong that had made him feel the need to retreat so abruptly, but he wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was glaring toward the group of Gryffindors who had stopped a few yards away, and more specifically at the bespectacled boy who stood at the front, whose left hand was holding his still-raised wand while his right swept through his messy black hair. I felt a surge of relief and then annoyance when I realized that Caradoc hadn't pulled away from me of his own volition.

"Tsk tsk," he looked between Caradoc and me, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Now I can't be sure, but I'm quite certain snogging the prefects is not listed under the duties of Head Boy."

Heat rose in my cheeks, but I couldn't tell whether it was from anger or embarrassment. "Maybe you need an updated list. Not that you'll ever have to worry about that," I said testily.

He gave me a strange look, seeming to think for a moment. "If being Head Boy meant getting to snog you, maybe I'd clean up my act," he smirked.

"Somehow I doubt that," I muttered, slightly uncomfortable. Not only was he outrightly and inappropriately flirting with me, he was doing it right in front of Caradoc, whose teeth were making an unpleasant noise as he ground them together. Remus seemed to be whispering something to Potter, who seemed unconcerned with what his friend had to say, while Peter's head swiveled around, not wanting to miss any action. Alice was observing the scene with narrowed eyes, and I locked gazes with her, silently pleading for a way out of the situation.

"As much as I appreciate your sudden concern for rules," Caradoc started, glaring at Potter, "maybe you should worry about yourself before you start butting in to other people's business."

"I'm just trying to follow your example," Potter shrugged, seeming amused by the annoyed look of Caradoc's face.

"Knock it off, Potter," I snapped at him.

"You know, Lily," Alice finally decided it was time to intervene, "I could really use your help with the charms homework, do you think you could come work on it with me?" She glanced obviously at the entrance to the castle.

"Yeah, let's go," I suggested, and by some miracle I was able to hold in my sigh of relief.

"I'll walk you both up," Caradoc nodded, gesturing for me to lead the way into the castle. He appeared just as appreciative as I felt at Alice's intercession.

"We'll walk with you," Potter suggested, grinning. I glared at him, but he happily trotted along, throwing his arm around Caradoc's shoulder. Caradoc immediately pushed it off and Potter shrugged, edging his way in beside me. We were slightly behind the rest of the group, who were walking in relative silence. Every once in a while Alice would try and start up a conversation, but each attempt quickly died out.

"Have a good date, Evans?" the tightness of his voice somewhat belied the smirk that had taken up a permanent residence on his face. His hands were stuffed in his pockets casually, but I could tell he was measuring me with his eyes.

"Lovely, thank you," I answered shortly.

"Head Boy didn't try anything… _untoward_ , did he?"

"He was a perfect gentleman," I raised an eyebrow.

"Good, good…" he drug his feet slightly as we walked, and I briefly considered speeding up to put some distance between us and end this painful conversation. "I'd hate to have to step in on your behalf."

I stumbled a little on a stair, trying to process what he had said. I turned slowly to look him dead in the eyes. "Let's just get one thing clear right now. I don't need you to do anything 'on my behalf'; I'm perfectly capable of handling a seventeen-year-old boy all by myself. _Besides_ " my voice rose in defiance at his arrogant grin, "my relationships are none of your business, so if you want to do me a favor, kindly bugger off!"

I stalked the rest of the way up to Gryffindor tower, and, luckily for him, Potter seemed to at least have the presence of mind to keep his mouth shut. Once we entered the common room, I swept past Dorcas and Mary, who were sitting by the fire waiting for us, and went straight for the stairs that led to our dormitory. I could feel Mary and Dorcas's curious gazes on my back as I made my way up the stairs quickly. I had barely made it to the door when I heard three pairs of footsteps trailing up the staircase behind me. I left the door open behind me, and sat on my bed to wait for the others.

"Bad date?" Mary asked, as she led the way through the door.

"No," I shook my head. "The date itself was quite good."

"What are you all stroppy about, then?" Dorcas asked, throwing herself onto her bed before helping herself to a sugar quill from a box she had lying on top of the trunk at the end of her bed.

I thought for a moment about how to answer her question. "Has Potter been acting strangely?" I asked tentatively.

"What do you mean 'strangely?'" Mary raised her eyebrow.

"I don't know," I grasped for an explanation. "Just different than he usually acts," I shrugged. "I mean, he, and the other three as well for that matter, barely paid us any mind before. Now suddenly they want to sit with us and tag along on our dates. It's strange, isn't it?"

"It's annoying is what it is," Alice grumbled from corner of the room where she was changing into pajamas.

"I almost forgot about that!" Mary gasped. "I take it your date didn't go well?"

"It was bloody awful!" Alice groaned, flopping face down on her bed. "Potter never stopped talking the whole time! And in the rare millisecond he stopped for breath, Peter would find some way to make a crude joke. Merlin, a girl can only take so many double-entendres about wands!"

"Remus didn't feel the need to put a stop to any of this?" Dorcas asked, the sugar quill hanging out of her mouth like a cigarette.

"It was as if nothing was out of the ordinary for him! He just smiled and nodded along! I honestly believe I could have left halfway through and none of them would have noticed." Though she tried to seem glibly put out by the whole affair, I could tell she was seriously disappointed. Even though I felt terribly for her, I couldn't help but silently thank my lucky stars that it was Alice's date Potter had decided join in on and ruin instead of mine. I would much rather have a dog than a Marauder following Caradoc and me around all day.

"Bastards, the lot of them," Dorcas stated decidedly.

I nodded in agreement, pulling out a licorice wand from my Honeydukes bag. I sat down beside Alice and put my arm around her shoulders before handing her the candy. "Who needs boys anyway?"

* * *

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